Not Everything
by WolfunderfullMoon
Summary: These are all the different ways that Iris, Eddie, Henry Allen or the whole world could find out Barry's secret. And maybe Iris will find out why Barry doesn't go out with Felicity. Previously Love and Secrets but I like this title better. Credit to Halfblood for coming up with the idea. PM ME AND COMMENT WITH IDEAS!
1. Oh no

**Hi, Starlight here! Sorry about discontinuing my other story, but I can't really think of things that could happen. I am going to try doing a bunch of one shots (like episode long one shots), like Halfblood is doing. (Credit to him/her for the idea) If you want to see Barry's secret (whether it is his speed or love for Iris) revealed to anyone, leave a comment or pm me! IDEAS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

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People say that the more you tell a secret, the less of a secret it becomes. If that is the case, then mine is on the border of not qualifying as one.

My name's Barry Allen. I have superspeed. How you ask? Well, long story short, when the Particle Accelerator exploded, the energy expelled made the lightning bolt that struck me. I was in a coma for nine months and woke up being able to run faster than the speed of sound.

So far, only four people (alive) know about my identity. Well, five if you count the insane meta-human in the pipeline.

I also have a major crush, who I have like for about ten years now and has a boyfriend. Iris West. She's smart, beautiful, and not afraid to punch meta-humans three times her weight. It hurts so much when she tells me that she is waiting for someone out there to find out I'm an amazing, special guy, the one that she knows. She keeps talking about herself, but I know she will never see me as more than a friend. It kills me every time I see her with Eddie.

But enough of that. This is the story of how my secret was revealed.

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**36 Hours Ago**

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"Barry, where are you going?"

He froze. Barry had just spent the night at the West house and got a call from Cisco. Apparently Captain Cold was back. Barry had been that close to getting out the door. He didn't dare use his powers just in case Iris couldn't sleep and caught him. He had one foot out the door and was just about to close it.

"Uh… I was going out to get some milk for breakfast." Barry stammered. Iris gave him one of her signature 'really?' looks.

"There are two things that tip me off. One. It is four in the morning." Barry looked away sheepishly with one hand rubbing behind his ear.

"Two. My dad got three cartons yesterday."

"Oh, uh, did I say milk, because I, uh meant yogurt." Barry's face turned as bright as an overripe tomato. Iris sighed. What was not to like about his adorkableness?

"Fine, go. But you better have a good excuse when you get home, okay?"

He sighed in relief. Once Iris had disappeared, he dashed to the lab to get an update on C.C.

Iris shook her head as she went up the stairs. "There is something going on with that boy."

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Barry wanted to hit something. "So he's back." Cisco nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes." Caitlin was working on analyzing Barry's blood after running 400 miles in 45 minutes. Cisco was fiddling with a model of a DNA strand. Barry was pacing, while Wells was thinking. It was kind of funny, everyone had things that kept them busy in stressful situations.

Caitlin finally asked the question that was burning on everyone's tongues. "What are we going to do about it? Last time Barry went after him, he almost got killed!"

Barry snorted. "Don't remind me. I almost got frostbite." It was only thanks to his regeneration that Barry survived the ice blasts.

All of a sudden, the power went down, then flickered on again. At the same time, the security alarm went off. The screen flickered. Guess who showed up on the moniter.

"Hello. I hope you know what I want. Revenge. I will come for you. But for now, I will wait. The cold will just get colder. You can run, but you can't hide forever."

The speech ended, and everyone was silent. The first time, they had enough trouble with C.C., but know he was threatening them at their doorstep? Even Wells looked slightly worried. Cisco broke the silence. "I don't know about you, but we really need better security."

"I'm worried about this. Joe said this guy doesn't give up until he gets what he wants. I have a bad feeling about this." Barry started to vibrate his whole body. He didn't even realize what he was doing until Caitlin spoke to him.

"Barry. I need you to focus. You can't do anything if you are sitting here shivering like that."

He stopped shaking and looked up. He sat for a minute gathering his thoughts.

"Sorry, ever since I got my powers, when I get shocked or scared, I do that."

Caitlin responded. "It's okay. It's normal."

He smiled and zipped off.

Wells looked up. "He forgot his clothes again, did-" Barry came back, got his clothes, and ran off again.

"I stand corrected." Even Caitlin managed a small smile dispite the situation at hand.

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Meanwhile, Iris and Joe were having a nice breakfast, but Joe could tell Iris was holding back. He asked, "What's wrong baby?" Iris stiffened. Then she forced a smile

"It's nothing dad." She went on to pick at her plate of pancakes.

"I know when something's wrong and there definitely is. And don't say 'it's fine' again." Iris turned to look at her father with flint in her eyes.

"It's Barry. He's been avoiding me, forgetting about stuff, acting weird and he's hiding something. In all the years we have known each other, he has told me everything, so why is he lying?" Joe sighed and rubbed his stubble. Not everything. He remembered his talk with Barry not long ago. He has liked her ever since he was old enough to date. He was the fastest man on earth and yet he was 10 years to slow to tell Iris how he felt. Poor kid.

Joe pulled himself out of his thoughts to respond. "Iris, Barry has a lot on his plate. Two months ago, he was in a coma. It has been a hard transition back into life." Iris cut in.

"Then why doesn't he ask for help?"

"Some of it is mental, and some of it is physical. He has healed from the lightning, but he still has to get used to being up and about. And I know he knows you are a great friend, but some things have to be dealt with inside your own mind. This is his fight, not yours."

Iris sighed. She had been very judgemental about everything. And she had seen Barry put on his brave face. Not the one where you are the king of the world and you are going to slay the dragon, but the one where life is hard but you still manage to have the strength to smile.

Iris said, "Thanks dad. I get it now. I better get to work. That new guy is making rush hour even longer."

Joe replied, "Okay. See you soon." She left and Joe muttered to himself, "I doubt she understands."

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Iris decided to walk to work today. She took in a breath of warm moist air and checked her bag for her phone. Yep, got it. Suddenly she crashed into something. No, someone.

"Sorry!" She gasped. The wind had been knocked out of her and she clutched her side.

"No, no, my apologies. It was my fault." A man in black addressed her. He grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her up. She recoiled once she had steadied her feet. His hand was ice cold.

"So tell me," the man continued. "Are you the famous Iris West that has been writing about the Streak, excuse me, The Flash?"

Iris backed away. She rummage through her purse for a moment before getting a bottle of water, and a bottle of pepper spray that she kept hidden inside a coin bag.

"Yes, and I would love to stay and talk, but I need to get to work, and-" The man grabbed her. She struggled as he whistled a high note and a car came around the corner. She dropped the coin bag and bit back a curse. He shoved her into a van, and a cloth was held up to mouth and nose.

_Don't breathe don't breathe _she thought, but it was too late and she slipped into a fitful sleep.

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**Several hours later**

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_OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!_ Iris woke up with a throbbing headache and fuzzy vision. She blinked away the tears that were forming and forced herself to think. The five w's.

_Who? I don't know._

_What? I was kidnapped._

_When? It feels like several hours._

_Where? No idea._

_Why? Gets me nowhere._

A loud click jolted her back to reality. The man that had taken her walked in. It took a second for her mouth to start working, but once it did, it was hard for it to stop.

"Who are you? Why did you kidnap me? My dad's a cop and so is my boyfriend, you're going to be in so much trouble when they get their hands on you. Where are we? I want some answers, and I want them now!"

The man, who we all have assumed by now is Captain Cold, or C.C., chuckled quietly.

"You want some answers? I am a dangerous man. I need you to lure The Flash to his death." Iris almost choked. "We are at an abandoned warehouse. I need you to send him a message via your blog."

"Never!"

"Oh, but you will." He smiled and took out his freeze gun. He shot it right past her face onto the wall. She could feel the cold creeping toward her. He pointed it at her face. She got the message.

"Give me my computer. But The Flash will defeat you." She glared at him while logging on. She sent some slightly encrypted messages. Hey, just because she didn't understand half of the things Barry talked about didn't mean that she didn't like puzzles and riddles.

"There. Now let me go!" C.C. shook his head. He knew his weakness. Keeping Iris here would force him to choose between his life and hers.

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"Oh no, this is bad, really bad!" Barry was holding Cailtin's tablet and had understood Iris's message.

"What is it?" Cisco asked. He got handed the tablet. He also decoded it and started typing on the computer.

"Will someone tell me what's going on here?" Caitlin demanded. Dr Wells was wondering the same thing. "Yes, Mr. Allen. What is going on?"

Cisco replied. "Captain Cold has kidnapped Iris and if Barry doesn't show up in one hour…" He shook his head. "It's over."

"So what's the plan to take down this guy?" Barry questioned. He was not going to let Iris die.

"I covered that my friend. I modified the suit. Now it has wires that heat up to make you go faster, whether you are fighting ice or regular bad guys. If he hits you, it will flare up and heat the suit. Problem solved."

Barry thanked him and put on the suit. He flashed over to the abandoned warehouses on the east side of the river. He ran inside and came face to face with that stupid freeze gun. Iris gasped in relief.

"Now I am going to be very clear. I kill you or I kill her." C.C. threatened.

"You're not killing anyone. I beat you like last time." Barry concealed his voice like he always did when he was around Iris. The tension grew. The two started to circle each other.

"I was not beaten. I got the diamond. I simply know when to cool down."

"And yet I am still faster than you."

"Let's put that to the test!" C.C. shot at Barry. He dodged it and picked up the chair that Iris was tied to and put it in the corner. He shot the gun over and over again, but none hit Barry. Now, C.C. hated to play dirty, but there is a time for everything. He turned and shot at Iris.

Barry's world slowed down more than usual. He could see the ice creeping toward her. He knew that there was not enough time to get her out of the way, and he could heal, but she couldn't. Barry leaped in front of the blast and took a full on shot.

It was cold. So cold. But he had to hold on. The suit was warming, but not fast enough.

"Guys." He choked out. "Guys. It hurts. Please." C.C. walked away. He knew that there was no chance of him coming back from this. Iris sobbed quietly in the corner.

"Caitlin. Cisco. Anybody! Dr. Wells. Help. Please. It hurts!" Barry started to babble from the pain. It burned him. All he wanted was for the pain to stop.

Cisco spoke from the earpiece. His voice cracked. "Ther- there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

Caitlin started to cry. Cisco could only stare at the floor. Dr. Wells sat in silence. They thought about all the great times they had.

All that Iris could think about was that The Flash was talking to the people at Starr Labs. He knew them. They were in touch with The Flash! But it looked like it wouldn't be for much longer.

As Barry laid shivering on the floor, he started to vibrate, just as he did when he heard that C.C. was back. Back at the lab, Cailin heard a beep from the monitor that kept track of Barry's vitals. Instead of sinking, his body temp was rising! Barry's whole body shook, and the pain slowly subsided.

"I can't believe it's working! Keep shaking, it will warm you up faster." Caitlin shouted. And he did. He vibrated as hard as he could. It was simple science. All energy transformations lost some as heat. Barry stopped shaking. The pain was gone and his mind was clear. Soon he was back on his feet. He threw the small pocket knife he kept on his suit for emergencies to Iris, and she started to cut off the ropes that held her.

Just as Dr. Wells had told him when he was unraveling that tornado, he said it again. "Run, Barry, RUN!"

He took off and ran after C.C. He grabbed him and ran off. He yelled into the earpiece, "Guys, get the pipeline ready!"

Barry dropped him off into a new cell and took the freeze gun and set it on the table.

"Let's take a look at that burn." Caitlin suggested. They were alone. Wells was somewhere doing who knows what and Cisco was dismantling the freeze gun. She lifted up his shirt and gasped. Barry feared for the worst.

"How bad is it?"

"No. It- it healed. But how? You got hit straight on. I've got to take a blood sample."

She quickly got one and analyzed it. She pointed at the tablet screen. The cells were firing so fast that everything was a blur. As Barry looked at it, they slowed down to his normal range.

"The heat you generated must have caused a high in your cells. They went faster and faster, but now they are cooling down." Barry sighed in relief. He did not want to explain why he had to miss another day of work. "I guess that means you are free to go."

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Barry was in his mini lab working on some evidence when he decided he should get a break. His phone went off, telling him that Iris had just posted another blog post. He smiled. He knew what he was going to do.

Iris sat in Jitters drinking a cup of coffee. Who cares that it was eight oclock? She needed something to keep her going.

The bell rang and she turned to tell the person at the door that Jitters was closed. When she saw the red suit with the yellow lightning bolt, her heart stopped. He pointed up and she ran up the stairs to the roof. As always, The Flash had beaten her. He stood in the dark, with his face half shadowed. She took a breath.

"Thanks. For saving me and taking the ice."

Barry changed his voice and replied, "No problem. But I'm going to need your number if you keep getting in sticky situations." He grinned.

Iris knew that he knew the people at Starr Labs and she was going to know why, so she cut to the chase.

"So you know Caitlin, Cisco, and Dr. Wells. When did you meet them?" she inquired.

"After I got my powers."

"When was…?"

"After the Particle Accelerator explosion."

"So they helped you with them?"

"More or less." This wasn't going where Barry wanted it to go, so he simply said, "Meet me at Starr Labs tomorrow at ten." He didn't wait for a reply and sped away, but not before putting her back downstairs.

"Woah." Iris said. She suddenly did a fangirl squeal and ran to close up shop.

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Joe picked up his phone to keep it from falling off his desk. Barry had texted him.

_Hey Joe, I need to talk to you. _

_**Now?**_

_Yes, now. Meet me at my lab._

_**Does this have to do with you know what?**_

_Yes. Hurry._

_**Be there in ten**_

Joe was worried. Had Barry gotten injured, or worse? Did he lose his powers again? Joe didn't wait to find out. He climbed in his car and sped off.

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Joe walked into Barry's lab and saw him with his hands on his temples, clearly stressed about something.

"Hey, what's up?" Joe dropped his voice to an almost whisper. "Did you lose your powers again?"

Barry looked up quickly. He shook his head and looked away.

"What is it son?" Joe pryed.

Barry sighed. Why was it so easy for him to flirt with Iris on the rooftop, with his fleeting answers to her questions? They were caught in a precarious dance, with him in more danger than her. He was so confident then, but he was afraid to open his mouth now. Joe waited. Clearly the kid was having a hard time. Finally he spoke.

"Listen closely, because I'm not going to say it again. I got a call from Cisco this morning saying that Leonard Snart was seen in the area. Then he showed up at Starr Labs saying he was going to get revenge. About an hour later, Iris updated her blog with a coded message. It said that she had been kidnapped and was at the abandoned warehouse on the east side. It also said that- that if The Flash didn't come in less than an hour, that she would be killed."

Joe gasped. He knew blogging would put her in danger and that it almost got her killed.

"So I ran off. After talking, he shot at me. I was too fast, so he went for Iris. I jumped in front of her because there wasn't enough time. I was the one who got shot."

Barry paused. He felt like he was close to having another episode. But he kept talking. He needed this off of his chest.

"I thought I was going to die, Joe. It burned. Cisco installed heated wires to counteract the cold, but they weren't strong enough. I called for help, but Cisco said that there was nothing they could do about it. I was ready to give up. But then I started shaking, like shivering but really fast. It was like a panic attack. But it saved my life. It heated me enough to heal and I put Snart in the pipeline. We can get police to arrest him in the morning."

Joe wordlessly reached over and hugged his daughter's best friend. His son. Barry embraced it and relaxed. The fear was gone. But they weren't done yet.

"There's one other thing. I met Iris on the roof of Jitter's to see if she could stop blogging, but apparently, when I was hit, I asked the team if they could help. I was losing it from the pain. She heard their names. She knows that I know them. So, when I met her on the rooftop and she told me what she knew, I said for her to meet me at Starr Labs tomorrow at ten. I'm going to tell her the truth."

Barry looked as if he expected Joe to punch him or something. His face was turned slightly with his eyes downcast. But he wasn't mad. He knew that, someday, Iris would have to learn the truth.

"I am not mad Barry. I knew that she would have to know. I'll come with you to explain. You wanted to tell her, but I forbid you from it. I should explain, at least partly."

Barry could only stare at Joe. He nodded, and reached out for one more hug. Even though his father was the best in the world, right now Joe was every bit as wonderful.

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Iris could barely contain her excitement. She was going to find out who The Flash was! She raced over to Starr Labs five before ten. She opened the doors and took a deep breathe in.

_Okay Iris. Don't go fangirl, don't freak out, and don't be rude. Okay. Breathe. Whoo. I'm ready!_

She walked in. As she rounded the corner into the room where Barry was taken care of while in his coma, he was there. The Flash. Cisco, Caitlin and Wells were there too. Barry had taken the liberty of warning them of what he planned to do the night before. Nobody had been particularly happy about it, but they agreed it was necessary.

Cisco looked nervous, and Caitlin even more so, but Wells looked calm and collected, as usual.

The Flash nodded his head toward the door, and the others left. Iris gave him a look over. Having only seen him moving and in the shadows, she finally got a good look at him. He was tall, not really broad, but well muscled.

"Iris West. So you've come to find out who I am." The Flash disguised his voice again.

"Apparently getting almost killed was worth the effort." His gaze hardened. Why did she have to do that?

"Not to me."

"Let's finish the formalities and cut to the chase. Who are you?"

Barry thought. How did he want to do this? He finally decided on one plan.

"I need you to turn around and close your eyes."

"Okay." Iris was slightly confused, but agreed to his instructions and turned around with her eyes closed.

Barry quickly went to the hidden panel where he kept his suit, took it off and put on his normal clothes. He zipped back to his previous position and took a breath. It was now or never.

This time, he didn't disguise his voice. "Turn around."

Iris slowly turned around, and when she did, she saw her best friend with one of his goofy, awkward grins plastered on his face. Needless to say, Iris was shocked.

"Barry! It was you all along?" She didn't know whether to slap him or hug him, so she did both.

"I can't believe you never told me! I am not some princess that has to be protected!"

Joe stepped out from behind a beam and addressed his daughter. "Iris, don't be mad at him. I'm the one who told him not to tell you."

"You knew too! What!?" Iris sat down on a chair with a huff. They sat in silence for about thirty seconds until Barry spoke.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you soo bad. I just didn't know how."

"Okay, I forgive you. "She looked at Joe pointedly. "But you, mister, are not off the hook yet."

The rest of the team came back in.

"Ms. West. I trust that you will keep our secret safe?" She nodded. She still had so many questions bubbling up.

"Can I actually have a good interview this time?" Barry looked at Joe. "Only if you don't post it online." he responded.

"Deal. So how did you get your speed?" Dr. Wells answered this one.

"That is something I am very well aquainted with. We have a model, it will help explain." He set up the screen and they all watched it.

"You see, when the particle accelerator exploded, it released unknown energies into our world. Dark matter, dark energy, etc. That, let's say, fused and caused the lightning bolt that struck Barry to form. Then he got hit."

"What about the hospital? His heart kept stopping." Barry explained the rest.

"My heart didn't stop, Iris. It was beating too fast for the monitor to register. Dr. Wells suspected what had happened and got me in here and got me stable."

"A few final questions. What can you actually do?" Barry smiled. He was close to becoming back to his old self. He suggested, "I think this calls for a demonstration."

Cisco raised his hands in victory. "I just installed a new belt. It will measure the force of your sonic booms!" He ran off to get the treadmill ready. Iris looked at Barry in shock. Sonic booms? What happened to her normal, average life?

Five minutes later, Barry stepped onto the treadmill. He started off at a normal person's pace, but quickly accelerated to about 700 miles an hour. Iris was astounded.

"How fast is his top speed?" she asked. Caitlin said, "Moch 1.1."

"Which is how fast?"

Cisco answered. "About 840 miles an hour. You saw his super sonic punch when he was battling Tony."

Tony reminded her of another thing. "Barry broke his hand during the fight, but it was healed the next day. How is that possible?"

Caitlin didn't seem to mind Iris's never ending questions. "He has cellular regeneration at a speed no one's ever seen before. He broke his hand really bad when he first showed us his speed and it healed in three hours. It's handy because he tends to-"

Barry flew off the treadmill and into the padding that Cisco had put up.

"-trip a lot."


	2. Eddie

**Hi! How did you like that first chapter? It was supposed to be only about five pages long (it was 12), but oh well. Please, I beg you for inspiration! Forget I said that, I sound like a fashion designer. But please review or PM me for ideas. This one's short. But I'm gonna make it count. And for the last chapter, actually two more people know about it: Oliver and Felicity. I'll change that soon.**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

**-THIS IS TOTALLY A LINE-DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN EPISODE 7-**

Eddie's mind was a whirlwind. First he had seen a bulletproof maniac and now Allen had superspeed. What was next? Iris bursting into flame? He had just been released from the hospital that had treated his wounds after he had been shot by Tockman, that idiot. He got shot and covered in blood, but at least Iris was safe. But the incident at the hospital kept bothering him. He had to talk to Barry or Joe. It was driving him crazy!

He was sitting in his bed when Barry walked in. Eddie was pretending to be loopy so they wouldn't give him more pain medications. He hated that stuff, and he wasn't hurting bad, so he acted like a complete and total idiot.

After talking (more like babbling) with Joe and Iris, she said she wanted some coffee and he got to listen to Joe and Barry. He couldn't exactly tell what they were talking about, but it seemed secretive. He was an interrogator before becoming a cop. He knew the signs. Knowing glances, small twitch of the lips, hushed tones. He wasn't a total idiot.

Then Joe pushed the flowers Barry had brought onto the ground, but there was no crash. He saw Allen run and catch the plant. He covered about ten feet in less than two seconds! After the way Joe looked at him, apparently this was normal for him. He asked what happened, and Joe obviously made an excuse. But Eddie didn't want to push it, so he pretended to go along with his excuse instead of confronting him. But now Eddie wanted answers and he was going to get them.

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Eddie made his way to Allen's lab. He peeked in and saw Barry talking on the phone.

"Okay, third and west street? Got it. I'll be right over there." Barry looked up from his phone when he heard Eddie knock. Shock was written all over his face.

"Oh, Eddie, I didn't see you there. What's up?" he asked, regaining his composure.

"Look, Barry, can you spare a minute?" Eddie replied. Barry looked apologetic.

"Sorry Eddie, I got to run. Can we meet later thanks bye." he ran off grabbing a duffel bag on the way. He saw something red inside. He shook it off and went to find Joe.

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After about fifteen minutes of waiting on Joe to finish a meeting, he finally got a chance to talk to his partner. He quickly ran after him before he got lost in the crowd.

"Joe, I need to talk to you. Somewhere private." Joe looked at Eddie. he seemed unusually flushed and complied.

"Sure, but what for?" he questioned. Eddie shook his head in response. "I'll tell you soon."

Joe grabbed his arm, panic flaring up inside of him. "This isn't about Iris, is it?"

He shook his head again. Joe sighed in relief but put on a guarded face. He knew something was about to go down and he didn't like it.

The two cops arrived in Joe's office. Eddie gathered his thoughts and voiced them.

"Joe, at the hospital, I saw… something crazy." Joe internally deflated. He was afraid of this. He had noticed something weird with Eddie at the hospital but couldn't put his finger on it. He finally decided that it was the pain meds that were messing him up.

"I know you are going to say, that I was under pain meds and wasn't thinking straight, but I only took half of the dosage. I hate that stuff. Bad experience when I was a kid. But I was thinking clearly. I Know what I saw. Scratch that. I don't know what I saw, but I definitely saw it."

Eddie took in another breath to continue explaining, but Joe interrupted.

"Wait. Don't say another word until I get Barry over here, you understand me?"

"Bu-"

"Do you understand me?"

Eddie nodded meekly. He guessed that Barry had to talk, but he hated waiting. Meanwhile, Joe had to make a call.

"Barry? Get you but over here. No. No. Yes. Kinda. Just get over here as fast as you can. Meet us in the lab. Okay. Bye." He turned to Eddie.

"He's on his way."

Three minutes later, Barry walked up the stairs. He walked through the doorway to his lab when he saw the two cops. It only took one glance at each of their faces to know what was going on. So this is what Eddie wanted to talk to him about. His spirits from saving two people from a car crash sunk lower than a worm playing limbo.

Eddie began the same way he did with Joe. "Barry, when I was at the hospital, I saw some crazy things. And I know what you are going to say, I was drugged, I was loopy. But I only took half the dose thanks to childhood trauma from pain meds, and I was thinking clearly. What was that?"

Barry was at a loss for words. He looked to Joe for help. He jerked his head in a 'go on tell him we have no other choice and I am not lying' kind of way. Barry sighed in defeat.

"First, sit down." After finding comfortable positions, Barry started. "You are right. You saw something that day. You weren't loopy and I am not lying." Eddie could've sworn he muttered "I've already lied enough."

Eddie wanted to cut to the chase. He was never one for stakeouts. "So what did I see?"

Barry looked at Joe. He got the message. While Eddie stared at Joe with wide eyes, Joe picked up a mug (a new one courtesy of Iris because _someone_ broke his favorite one) and threw it across the room. And again, there was no crash.

Barry Allen, nerdy, geeky, always late Barry Allen, had run across the room and grabbed the mug before he could blink. Eddie stammered, "Wha- What the- What did you do?"

Instead of answering his question, Barry asked in turn, "Do you know the funny thing about a Particle Accelerator exploding, being struck by lightning created by unknown energies released from the explosion and being in a coma for nine months? When you wake up, apparently you have superspeed as well as cellular regeneration and-"

"What?" This was more than Eddie could handle. Superspeed? Cellular regeneration? Well that would explain what had just happened. But he still had trouble wrapping his head around this. Barry tried again, but blunter.

"The Particle Accelerator exploded, causing strange lightning to form that hit me, I spent nine months in a coma and woke up being able to top 500 miles an hour." Eddie seemed to understand, but was still speechless.

But it made sense. The crime that was being stopped by a red streak. Wait, red? That must have been a costume or something in Barry's bag. And when they were investigating Tony, he was suddenly in front of them. It all made sense now.

"Can you show me again?" he asked. Joe chuckled. It was funny to see his serious, cool faced partner dumbstruck.

"Sure. But let me see your phone first." Eddie wordlessly handed over the device and Barry took off running. He arrived seven seconds later with photos of the police building from the front, back, roof and even the basement.

"I guess it's true. You are The Flash." He hesitated. "What else can you do and who else knows about it?" Barry answered both questions while vibrating his vocal chords.

"The only other people besides you and Joe are Caitlin, Cisco and Dr. Wells. They were the first ones to discover it when I was in the hospital." he stopped with the voice thing and answered the rest of the first question.

"I can vibrate my voice, run on water, run up the sides of buildings and break through the sound barrier. My record speed so far is Moch 1.1, which is about 840 miles an hour. Plus I heal quickly. It comes in handy when you deal with meta-huamns who want to kill you." he finished bluntly.

Eddie looked like he didn't want to ask the question. "Meta-humans?"

"Yeah, it's a term we use for anyone who was affected on a cellular level by the Particle Accelerator explosion."

"So there are others like you?" Eddie looked worried.

Joe responded. "Unfortunately, yes."

"You said you heal quickly. Does that mean instead of two months it's one month, or…?"

Barry held up his wrist and grimaced painfully. "On the day that I woke up from my coma, the team wanted to see how fast I could go. I ended up losing focus and tripping into a pile of barrels. I broke my wrist really badly, but it healed in three hours."

Eddie just stared at him. He still had one last question. "Does Iris know about this?"

Joe's gaze hardened. "No, and I intend to keep it that way. It is too dangerous. We've tried convincing her to stop, but she won't."

"Wow. This is a lot to take in. You know guys, I'm just gonna go home and get some sleep. Can we talk later?" Eddie regained some of his cool and calm composure. He turned and walked away, but two steps later he turned around.

"Is that how you punched through the bag?"

Barry grinned. "Yeah, I didn't mean to go that hard."

Eddie smiled too. "So I guess you don't have to work on your speed?"

"Nope, I got that covered."

"But you owe me a new punching bag, Allen." Barry rolled his eyes but agreed to get him a new one. Joe looked around at the boys contently. Everything was going to be alright.


	3. Iris

**Hello! That last one was kind of short, and so is this one, but whatever. Please send me suggestions and ideas! I could really use them. Thanks for reading!**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

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Iris walked into Starr Labs with a confident gait and a smile. Her sleek brown hair was shining in the light. She was so excited to tell Barry about her blog, she took her lunch break to go see him. She had just reached two thousand followers! It was amazing!

Barry had told her that Cisco was helping him with some crime scene investigation stuff because Starr Labs had state of the art equipment at their disposal. Iris was kind of surprised that Barry maintained a close relationship with Caitlin and Cisco, as well as Dr. Wells, but then again, they did save his life and took care of him for nine months.

She turned around the corner into the main room and froze. Her mouth made a perfect 'o' in shock. Cisco and Caitlin's backs were toward her, but in front of them was- was- was a blur running on a treadmill! Sparks were coming off of him just like The Flash! Wait- this was The Flash! She was going to find out who he was. Maybe it was on accident but who cares?

She hurried over to the glass window, but they didn't hear her or see her. The two geeks were sitting, watching his vitals and complicated dials and graphs, too busy to notice Iris. But Barry did. His concentration wavered and he slipped.

_Boom!_ Caitlin and Cisco looked up. Iris hurriedly backed into a corner to remain undetected.

"Hey dude, you okay?" Cisco asked. Caitlin shook her head and muttered to herself. They walked into the treadmill room where they lifted someone up and dragged him to a bed, like the ones at the doctor's office. Caitlin took a quick X-ray and connected the info to her computer. Meanwhile, Cisco look around for a notepad.

"Okay, we _seriously _need some padding back there that's not packing material. That's like, the fifth time you've slipped man! Now, we need the best absorbent material to disperse the force of the hit…" Cisco started to mutter equations and write down calculations on the pad.

Iris focused her attention back to The Flash. Just as Caitlin moved out the way, she said his name. And she saw his face. It was lanced with pain, but he was calm, like this had happened before.

"Can you please stop tripping Barry? It scares me every time you go down."

Iris stopped breathing. Barry is- What- But he can't be- The explosion- lightning.

She couldn't take any more.

"What the heck is going on?" she yelled. Everyone froze and looked up at her.

"Uh, hey Iris." Barry's voice was an octave higher than usual and his face spoke clearly of stress.. "What are you doing here?"

Iris walked over to Barry. Her eyes flashed and her voice was like ice. "What is going on here? Barry, why didn't you tell me?"

"Look, I wanted to! Joe made me promise not to tell you. So don't blame me when your dad forbid me from it!" Barry was losing the war and he just gave her ammo.

"My dad knew about this? So that's why you've been ignoring me, forgetting things, making excuses? Because he said so?" She marched away and sat down on the steps of the basement, near the pipeline. She was so occupied with her thoughts that she didn't notice the soft hum of a wheelchair come up behind her.

"So I take it, Miss West, that you know Barry's secret?" Dr. Wells prompted. Iris whirled around, startled, but then regained her moody look and turned back. Her emotions exploded.

"Why didn't he tell me? I'm his best friend! And he kept it a secret! I can't believe him. I mean, I know it was dangerous but I can handle myself."

"Like you handled yourself with Tony." he rebutted. Iris fell silent. He had hit his mark.

"Look at it this way. Barry got powers that makes him a target for others with powers. He goes out and fights crime while you write a blog with your name on it. Those that want to hurt Barry will go after you to get information. They think you might know who The Flash is. That makes Barry worried sick, and he doesn't want you to put yourself in danger to get a juicy story. You said it yourself. He is your best friend, and you are his. How would he feel if you died?" Wells said softly.

Iris couldn't speak. She understood why they kept it a secret. Oh, she was a total idiot! She took a deep breath and stood up.

"I guess I should go back." she said quietly.

"Do you mind if I accompany you? I heard a rather large boom go off and it did not sound good."

Iris smiled and they slowly walked back into the control room. Cisco was finishing up a simulator testing the absorbency of different types of materials. Caitlin was wrapping up Barry's ankle; it looked like he had sprained it.

"Barry, I'm sorry about before. I, uh, overreacted and my anger got the best of me. Can you forgive me?"

Barry fake punched Iris's arm and replied, "Of course I forgive you. You are my best friend."

She slapped his left arm in return but he howled in pain.

Caitlin cut in. "Hey, hold it there! He has a severe hairline fracture in his left forearm where you just hit him! It will take" Caitlin paused, checking the data, "about ten minutes longer for it to heal than it would if you hadn't hit him." She finished with his foot and quickly put on a wrap to help stablize the fracture. Meanwhile, Iris was staring at Barry in confusion.

"What do you mean, ten minutes longer? I fractured my shin and it wasn't bad but it took a month and a half to heal."

Caitlin explained. "He has cellular regeneration. It takes a fraction of what a normal person takes to heal. It helps when he is fighting bad guys."

"You, mister, have a lot of explaining to do when we get home. But I better go. My break at Jitters is almost done." She gave him an awkward hug and waved goodbye as she walked out the door.

Dr. Wells turned to Barry. "Now all that's left is to tell her how you feel." Barry looked at him in shock, and then fell back against the headrest with his eyes closed as Cisco started to tease him.


	4. Eddie AND Iris

**Whoo! Two chapters in one day! I know those last ones were (very) short, but I promise this is going to be over 3000 words. I have a whole plan in my head for what I am going to do. (Not really) **_**Please send feedback and ideas!**_ **And anyone else who wants to do the whole secret revealing thing, you are welcome to use my ideas. After all, imitation is the best form of flattery ;)**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

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Being the Flash is fun. I'm always trying to go faster, see more things, discover new abilities. For once, Caitlin has actually let me try it.

She's always worried about someone finding out my secret, which I guess makes sense. I am sad to say that her worries were proven true. But I never would have thought that someone would find out my secret in the way that it did.

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"Are you sure you want to go for it?" Caitlin asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Barry replied. He had just stepped onto the treadmill and checked to make sure his shoes had been tied. He glanced back at the padding that Cisco had put up. After his fifth time flying off of the treadmill, the team had decided to put a better cushion up than packaging materials. So far, it had worked well, and Barry had only receive minor sprains when he tripped.

"Hey Cisco!" Barry shouted. "Are the sensors up?"

"Yeah." Said a muffled voice. Cisco reappeared from a hole in the wall carrying a bunch of tools. "That was the last one. I can't wait to see you do this!" He hurried back to the control panels that tracked Barry's vitals and rubbed his hands together. Caitlin took her place to the right of him and Dr. Wells to the left.

"Alright Mr. Allen. This is one time that I do not caution restraint. Let's see how fast you can go." Wells said. Cisco pressed the button that started up the treadmill and sat back, excitement all over his face.

As usual, Barry started out at a normal pace, but quickly accelerated to 600 miles an hour.

"We're at six-forty, six-sixty, six-ninety, seven-ten, seven-thirty." Cisco listed off the speeds with growing anticipation. "Seven-fifty, SEVEN-SIXTY!"

_BOOOM! _A loud whoop came from Barry. He had just caused a sonic boom, baby! The glass separating the two rooms was slightly cracked. He kept running, until he reached a speed of eight hundred sixty seven miles per hour. It looked like that was all he could maintain for now, but he was sure that he could go faster.

The treadmill slowed down to a complete stop. Barry stepped off of it with his brown hair slick with sweat. He jumped in victory and high-fived Cisco. Caitlin had a smile on her face and even Dr. Wells had a small grin on his face.

"A sonic boom. Do you know how long I have been waiting to see that?" Cisco asked. "That was awesome! And the sensors all around the room worked perfectly!"

Caitlin, being, well, Caitlin, took a sample of Barry's blood to analyze. As far as she could tell, the sonic boom hadn't affected Barry in any way.

_Riiing riiing. Riiing riiing. Rii-_

"_Hey Joe."_

"_**Hi Barry. We have a homicide on First and Oak Street near the abandoned train yard. Get your stuff and run on over."**_

"_Okay. Be there soon. Bye."_

Barry hung up and explained the situation to the team. He soon was speeding over to the crime scene, having fun jumping over everything in his path. He stopped a few blocks away and made sure that he looked like he had not just run several hundred miles in less than 20 minutes. He attempted to smooth his unruly hair and ducked under the yellow tape.

He approached Joe and Eddie, who were looking at a frozen body. At least it wasn't as gross as the man who got burnt up by Blackout. The three men looked at the it in silence before anyone spoke.

"Do you know who it is?" Barry asked. The others shook their heads in denial. Barry quickly took a tissue sample to see if the DNA was in the database. Eddie turned to go talk to the woman who found the body as Joe turned to Barry.

"Do you think this is the work of Snart?" Joe wondered. Barry took a minute to inspect the ice that encased the man before answering.

"I don't think so. Look at the way the ice crystallizes. It's like a snowflake. It wasn't made by the freeze gun. And Snart isn't one to kill."

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Joe prompted. Barry nodded. "Another meta-human. One with ice-powers I'd guess. I'll get a sample. They usually have DNA inside. I'll run it through the computers at Starr Labs and see if Caitlin can identify who it is."

The two walked over and sat down on a park style bench. "So what were you doing at Starr Labs this morning? You sounded pretty excited."

Barry smiled, his white teeth gleaming. "Oh, nothing, just creating a sonic boom." He put his hands behind his head nonchalantly.

"You what? Boy, I don't know how you keep surprising me but you do it. And I thought that after you unraveled that tornado I had seen everything." The two laughed until Eddie came back with some not so good news.

"Guys? The witness said a woman came around two last night, looking pretty suspicious. She lives in the apartments nearby. She had a pretty good viewpoint of the whole area. She heard a scream, then called 911 just in case. When she went downstairs to investigate, all that was left was… this."

Joe questioned Eddie. "So what you are saying is that we have no leads except it's a woman and the victim?" Eddie nodded, his blonde hair translucent in the light. As he walked away, Barry leaned over to Joe. "I think that the team can figure it out. We have our ways, and plus it is a meta-human." Barry packed up his kit, got a sample of the ice and headed back to Starr Labs.

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Caitlin walked over to Barry just as he walked through the doorway into the control room.

"What are you doing back so soon?" she asked. Barry replied, "Homicide, and it looks like it's another meta-human." He plopped the file on the desk, and she took a look at it. She frowned at the frozen body, but continued to flip through the pages until Cisco snatched it from her.

"Hmm. Do you think it's Captain Cold?"

"No. Look at the way the ice formed. It looks like a snowflake. It wasn't made by a freeze gun."

Caitlin cut in. "And there is no one else who would have the technology to build something like that." She turned to Barry. "Did you get a sample?" He handed her the small evidence bag and frowned. "That's weird. The ice didn't melt."

She ran it through the complicated machines that analyzed the ice on a cellular level, and twenty minutes later they had their suspect. The machine went _ding_ and Cisco ran over to get the person's ID. Caitlin glared at him. "The machine is not supposed to _ding_." she accused. Cisco just shrugged and said, "It adds a little something and I like it." He read the name.

"Okay guys, our perp is…" he stared at the name in shock. "Alexis Snow." The room froze. Cisco looked at Caitlin for a second before dropping his gaze. She was frozen with her mouth slightly open and a shocked look on her face. Barry, understandably, was confused.

"What's the big deal with this Alexis person?" he asked. Caitlin shook her head, tears welling up. "Alexis… is my cousin."

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Barry paced around the lab, sometimes speedy and sometimes normal. He couldn't quite wrap his head around it. "So what you're saying is that Caitlin's cousin who was investigating the effects of pollution on snowflake formations is a meta-human who can control ice." Dr. Wells nodded affirmative. "We have yet to confirm the exact extent of her powers but for now we can safely say she is a threat."

Caitlin was sitting on the treadmill. Ever since they had identified the DNA she had kept to herself, preferring to be alone more than she already had. Barry knocked on the door and the only sign that she had acknowledged him was a slight turn of her head. He sat next to her and forced himself to speak. "Hey." he said softly. "You okay?" She turned toward him and let out a strangled sigh, as though she had been crying. "I- I just don't believe that she killed that person on purpose. She was so gentle." She looked down at her hands and took another breath to continue and looked at Barry. "We were really close. We did so many things together, and we never fought. There was no reason to. She was always the quietest. On the night of the Particle Accelerator explosion, she had just gathered a snow sample from Maine and was studying it. She was worried that it would melt, so she skipped the- the..." At that a few tears leaked out. Barry held her. He let her cry and she soon resumed her story. "A piece of equipment in her lab fell because of the explosion, and everyone assumed she died, but a body was never found." She finished and she let out a small sniff.

"Hey, it's okay. I am going to go talk to her, not in disguise, and I was wondering if you would come with me." Barry asked. Caitlin nodded. "I think we should do that." They both got up and walked into the control room. Cisco ran up to them. "I just searched up her name, did a little hacking, and found her address. She goes by Serena Winters now. Here." He handed Barry a piece of paper with an address. Soon he and Caitlin were standing in front of a light blue oak wood door.

Barry glanced at Caitlin. "You ready?" She took a deep breath, held her head a little higher, and knocked on the door.

_Knock knock. Knock knock knock. Knock._

She looked at Barry and explained. "It was a secret code we used as kids for a club."

The door swung open. A woman with brown hair, green eyes and a medium stature was standing in the doorway in shock. "Caitlin? But how? I swore no one would find me." she gasped. "Alexis." Caitlin chided. "You should know by now that I always find a way." She reached out for a hug, but Alexis was suddenly on the defensive.

"Don't touch me! You should just go. It's safer. I might hurt you." she whimpered. Caitlin shook her head. There was no way she was leaving without talking to her cousin. "And what is he doing here?" she asked, not quite in a rude manner but still guarded all the same.

"We are here to help you." Barry replied. Alexis looked around fearfully and gestured for them to come inside.

After getting some cookies and coffee out, they sat down at the small kitchen table to talk.

"Why are you here?" Alexis asked. Barry handed her the picture of the dead man.

"Oh god oh god oh god. I swear I did not mean to kill him. After I- Wait. how much do you know?"

Caitlin answered, "More than you think." She let out a small smile before letting Barry take care of the rest of the conversation.

"We know that the night of the explosion you changed. You got the ability to control ice, I would guess?" Alexis looked shocked. "How did you know? Did someone tell you?"

Barry glanced at Caitlin and she shrugged. "Sort of. But we can help you control your powers, get in sync with them, not be afraid anymore." Alexis looked Barry in the eye with a hopeful look, but then it turned sad.

"You don't understand. I could hurt someone, I- I killed a person." she whispered.

Barry took her ice cold hands and held them tight. "But I do understand. It happened to me too." Alexis jerked up. She stuttered, "Yo- You're like me? You have ice powers too?" Barry almost laughed at her expression, but that would be very rude. Instead he shook his head. "No, I got superspeed. But I got my powers the same way you did, sort of. It was from the Particle Accelerator explosion, but I got struck by lightning and was in a coma for nine months."

All that Alexis could say was "Ow." After some small talk and a few (fifteen) cookies, the trio decided to head back to Starr Labs.

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A small bald man was watching from the shadows. He could see the forms of three people, two girls and one boy. He grinned. Time to put his plan to use.

"Number three! Go capture them. One! Start the van. We have less than five minutes to complete this mission. Now go!

The friends walked to the car and were talking but something made Caitlin uneasy. She looked around but nothing seemed amiss. She opened the car door but felt a sharp pain in her neck. She looked at the others and saw traquilizers protruding from each of their necks. She fell to the ground and sunk into a light sleep.

Twenty minutes later Barry and Caitlin woke up. They each rubbed the dart and it fell off, but Alexis was nowhere to be found.

"Ow. What happened?" asked Barry. Caitlin answered, "We were darted. Unfortunately, I recognized the man that did this. Thomas Daran. He was arrested ten years ago for inhumane testing on humans, but he was released about two years ago. Looks like Alexis was kidnapped for him to test on."

Barry looked at her in dismay. "Well, we need to find her. I'm going to call Joe. I'll see if we can get the police force out there looking for her." He reached for his phone and called him. After filling him in on the situation, Joe didn't seem to have a problem with saving her. If anything, he was very determined to get her out alive.

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"We need to locate Alexis as quickly as possible. I'll take care of that." Cisco said. He was already on the computer, hacking into every surveillance system in the area. Soon he got a hit. "Here! About one hour ago, Alexis was taken into this old science lab near the station." Barry sprung into action. "I'll call Joe. I could use some law enforcement help to take him down." The lab was in chaos. Everyone was running around trying to make sure everything was planned.

Soon after, Barry was racing off to rescue Alexis. He arrived around the back and pressed his headset. "Guys, I think this is it. I can hear someone talking in there." The team was about two blocks away in the van, ready to come out at a moments notice. Barry entered the lab. It smelled like chlorophil and old rat droppings. In other words, it didn't smell that great.

The plan was simple. Get Alexis out of there before the police arrived (besides Joe) and tie up Daran. Easy.

He peeked around the corner and his heart stopped. There, tied up in a chair next to Alexis, who was in an insane asylum type bed, was Iris. Barry rolled his eyes. Why, oh why did she always have to get herself nearly killed to find out more about The Flash? It would make this mission so much harder now that he has to rescue Iris too. He notified the team. "Guys, there is a minor setback. Iris was captured too." Cisco unknowingly copied Barry and rolled his eyes. He shushed the rest of the team when he heard Daran talking.

"Hmm, what have we got here? A pretty little girl and the snow queen." He turned toward Alexis who struggled against her bonds. "Now I'm going to find out how you make such pretty little snowflakes." he faced Iris now. "And you will help lure The Flash here so I can figure out how he… _works_."

"Never!" Iris yelled. Daran walked back toward a weapons rack.

"Oh, but I already have. He's here listening to our conversation as we speak!"

"Barry, get out of the way NOW!" Caitlin yelled. Barry sped out of the way just in time. A weird ooze was shot from a strange gun and it hit the column he was standing behind, and as the ooze bubbled, it melted the metal. Barry gasped. If that stuff got on him, it would be game over.

Daran continued to shoot at him, but was too slow. Finally it ran out of power and had to recharge. Just as it did he heard footsteps behind him. Three figures were holding guns and Joe nodded at him. He had tried to stall the police as long as he could, but it looked like time had run out. Joe, Eddie, and some cop that Barry barely knew were standing in the doorway. The crazy maniac grabbed another gun, this time a normal one, and fired it at the newcomers. No one was hit, and it was more like a warning shot, but the cops scattered, and the other cop, who Barry didn't know, stammered, saying he was going to get backup. At that, Daran turned and tazed him, effectively knocking him out.

"Looks like I'm too fast for you." Barry taunted. He zipped around the two girls and untied them, but as Barry passed Alexis, he whispered, "Don't use your powers unless absolutely necessary." A faint nod let him know that she had heard.

As Barry lured Daran out into the open where there was more room for him to run, Joe got Iris safely behind a barrel. He was trying to convince her to go outside, but she refused, saying that she had to see how this played out.

The two were locked in a standoff. Neither could overpower the other and Daran seemed to realize that. He grabbed the goo gun, now fully recharged and shot at Barry. He saw the slime come out in slo-mo. There was no way he could dodge it. He got hit and the acidic properties started to eat through his suit. He ran back outside, much to the dismay of Iris, got into the van, changed into his regular clothes, and took a breather while the rest of the team pestered him about what happened. Needless to say, Cisco was furious.

"Dude! That was the last suit! Now I have to make another one." he whined. Barry retorted, "Would you rather see me as a puddle? What am I supposed to do now? Iris is in there, and so is Alexis, AND Joe and Eddie! What do you expect me to do, go in there with my regular clothes?"

Dr. Wells grabbed Barry's shoulder and He nodded. "Barry, I know that Joe didn't want you to tell them. But there are four people who care about, who are about to become piles of goo! Do what you have to do, Barry. I know I don't care about people much, but I know you care about them a lot. So go in there and be the hero you are!"

Barry raced back into the lab. He stopped in front of Daran and challenged him. "Hey Daran!" He turned around and gasped. So did two other people.

"Barry! What are you doing here?" Iris asked/yelled. Eddie wondered the same thing. "Allen, get back and call for reinforcements! You are not a cop, you have never held a gun and you need to get out of here!"

Barry gave both of them one of his adorkable grins and replied, "I'm sorry about this guys. And Eddie, you're right about two of those things. I am not a cop, I have never held a gun, but I can sure as heck RUN!" He finished his mini speech and raced around Daran, to the shock of Eddie and Iris. He threw in a punch and a kick, but was thrown off. He landed on the floor with a _huff_ and struggled to get up after the wind was knocked out of him. Daran clicked his tongue.

"Oh, what a shame. How the mighty have fallen." He pointed the goo gun at Barry and said, "Say goodbye to your friend!" Just as he reached to pull the trigger, a blast of ice knocked the gun out of his hands. Daran looked up to see Alexis, who was hiding in the shadows, holding her arms out before her ready for another attack. "Not another step! Put your hands above your head and your knees on the ground!" he did as he was told and sunk to the floor. Barry grabbed Eddies handcuffs and was about to put them on when their owner asked, "Hey, where did they go?" Barry smiled and jingled them before saying, "You mean these?" He laughed at Eddie's expression and placed the handcuffs on Daran.

OOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOo

"Woah. Ow ow ow ow ow." Barry had just noticed a big burn on his side and he was starting to feel dizzy. "Shoot! I forgot to eat Cisco's calorie bar!" he muttered something then said, "I hope his next batch tastes better than the ones right now."

He sank to the ground and Joe steadied him. Barry could hear sirens in the distance. "Oh, that is bad, I need to get back to the van."

"Why?" Iris asked. She was in too much shock to do anything more than ask questions and listen to the others. Barry dodged the question. "Just get me to the van. Cisco, Caitlin and Dr. Wells are there." Joe and Eddie hauled him to a bench where Joe said he should stay back and explain. He left just as the team rushed out to check on him.

"Woah, man. Those are some pretty bad burns." Cisco said. Barry glanced at him. "No duh." He started to wince as Caitlin lifted him on a stretcher and placed him in the van. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow." he said as they went over each bump in the sidewalk. Eddie and Iris hesitated, but Dr. Wells waved them in to accompany Barry as they went back to Starr Labs.

"Okay. We need to get your shirt off before you heal with it attached to you." She grimaced. "I'm not going to lie. This is gonna hurt." She ripped it off and applied some cream, and the good news was that it was half healed. The bad news was that Barry was close to fainting.

"Oh… need food. Feel dizzy." he groaned. Cisco smirked while he handed him a disgusting energy bar. "Well, that's what happens if you don't eat two a day and you run." Barry ate it and almost immediately felt better. He sat up and looked at Iris and Eddie sheepishly. "Surprise."

Eddie just sat there. "I have to admit, I did not see this coming. And I'm a cop." Iris face turned from one of worry to one of accusation. "Barry! Why didn't you tell me! I am your best friend! How could yo-"

"Exactly! The reason that I didn't want to tell you was that you are my best friend. Plus you had already been almost killed by Tony and you keep putting yourself in danger! How do you think I would feel if you died?" he yelled. The arguments continued until Caitlin couldn't stand anymore.

"Will you please be quiet! I need to check Barry's wounds and I can't concentrate with you screaming like a bunch of banshees!" she lifted up his (new) shirt and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good. Ten more minutes and it will be healed."

"Wait." Eddie said. "How did it heal that fast? And why did you need that energy bar?" Barry answered, "Cellular regeneration. I just heal quicker." he glanced out the window. "And one of the drawbacks of running at the speed of sound is that I need to eat about twenty-thousand calories a day or I faint. Another one is that everytime I run without the suit, I get burns thanks to the friction I produce." he chuckled at Eddie's expression.

Iris looked at Cisco. "What is the speed of sound again?" she asked. "Seven hundred sixty one miles per hour." he answered without looking up from the road.

Eddie was astounded. "What is the fastest you've ever gone?"

"Eight hundred thirty seven miles an hour, or Moch 1.1."

Alexis had been sitting in silence for the past ten minutes. Barry turned to her in concern. "Hey, you okay?" She sniffed. "Yeah, I guess so." She winced as the van hit a bump, and she clutched her shoulder. Caitlin looked at it.

"Hmm. It looks like you sprained it. When we get back to Starr Labs we'll get you all fixed up and help you understand your powers."

Iris frowned in confusion. Barry explained, "Guys, meet Alexis. She's Caitlin's cousin. She is a meta-human too." Suddenly realizing that he was only confusing them, he continued. "A meta-human is someone with powers that are caused by the Particle Accelerator explosion. Like me."

Iris was still confused. "So how did you get your speed?"

"When the Particle Accelerator exploded, unknown energies were released into our world. Lightning formed from those energies and it struck me. Now, my DNA is different. Caitlin, show them what my blood cells look like." Caitlin tapped on her tablet for a minute, and then turned it around for the others to see. It looked like a bunch of yellow ping pong balls on fire bouncing around everywhere.

"We are here!" Cisco announced. They parked and went into Starr Labs. Iris hung outside thinking to herself. Things just got a whole lot cooler.


	5. Iris 3

**This one is going to be a **_**little **_**short but I am working on some bigger ones. ****PLEASE REVIEW AND SEND IN IDEAS! ****I am not kidding, I will take anything!**

**Mini, I am working on it, don't worry, and should I wear a neon uni horn for the party? Or a sparkly cape? ;)**

**And AF, I will start on that as soon as I can!**

**SCHOOL IS TAKING SO MUCH WRITING TIME OUT OF MY LIFE!**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR- and I am too lazy to write out the rest.**

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Iris and Barry were standing on the side of a bridge overlooking the sunset. The sun reflected off of the Central City Bay. The salty air mixed in with the glowing colors of the sky made for a really nice walk with your best-friend-who-is-also- your-crush. The orange tinge in the air made Iris's skin glow, and she looked like an angel with her brown hair flowing back in the wind. He sighed. The only thing that stood between them was a blonde cop. Eddie. Don't get him wrong, Eddie is a nice guy, but he just seemed… disconnected, if that made any sense.

"Barry. Barry! BARRY!" He jolted out of his thoughts and turned to Iris. "Yes?" he asked sheepishly. Iris rolled her eyes in mock distress. "I SAID that Caitlin and Cisco are really cool and that we should go hang with them some time. Like, we could go to the movies or something."

Barry stammered, "Yeah, yeah. That would be great."

Iris gave him the look. "Just great? They saved your life! Come on, you have to be a little more excited!"

He looked back at the sky and thought about all the things that had happened in the last ten months. Being struck by lightning, stuck in a coma, almost being killed numerous times. Then he thought about the positives. He had superspeed, new friends, heck, he even got to save people on a daily basis! You have to admit, that was pretty cool.

A large _BOOM!_ startled him and made Iris jump. He pinpointed the source of the sound to have come from a boat collision. The man on the bigger boat was fine, but a small boat was slowly sinking with a family on board.

Iris looked around, but not at the crash site. She was looking for that familiar red blur to run across the water and save the struggling people, two of which were young boys, about seven. As the seconds ticked away, she got more and more agitated. "Where is he? He should have been here by now."

Barry ran his fingers through his hair. Oh man, oh man, oh man. What was he supposed to do with Iris here? He thought about what Joe would want him to do, and what he thought was right. Barry had lost his mom and his dad was in Iron Heights. He didn't want that pain to happen to anyone else. He glanced at Iris and apologized.

"I am so sorry, Iris. Please don't kill me."

"Barry, what are you talking abo-" She stood speechless as her best friend ran down the bridge and over the water. He grabbed the boys who had ceased struggling in the water and placed them on the bank, and then returned for the older members and the driver of the other boat. As soon as he had finished the task, he returned to the top of the bridge with one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "So, um-"

"So um what? So um hey I forgot to tell you I was the Flash? That I was lying to you? That I didn't trust you to keep my secret?" All her shock was gone and what was left was not pretty. After ranting for another few minutes, her chest heaved from all the yelling. The look on her face told one of anger and betrayal, and it tore Barry's heart out.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?"

Barry smirked, and a little bit of the playfulness came back in his eyes.

"Hold on!" he picked her up bridal style and ran her over to the roof of Jitters. This time he was careful to NOT set her on fire like he had with Felicity. Hehehe…

Barry set her down and steadied her, and it was a good thing he did. Iris teetered from side to side and she almost fell over. Barry was worried that she had hated the experience, but her face looked like she had just gotten off of the best roller coaster in the world (which she kinda had). As she gathered her bearings, she realized she was on top of Jitters.

She gazed in wonder at the man that stood before her. Her goofy, lovable bear was a crime fighting superhero. No wonder he didn't want her blogging, and his mysterious behavior as the Flash made sense! But the recent spat, no, fight, when he attacked Eddie honestly scared her. And how he must have felt, oh God. What happened?

Barry seemed to sense her distress and walked over to her. He gave her a hug, and she sighed. Then she gently tugged out of his grip and and turned to face him.

"Barry… what happened with uh, Eddie, and… ?"

"Oh gosh, where do I even start? Long story short, there was an evil meta-human who could make people really, really angry, and he just so happened to look me in the eye and make me go berserk."

Iris still looked slightly confused. "Who was the guy in the green with the bow?"

"That was Starling City's Arrow. We were working together on some stuff when he decided that he would go and stop me. And yell at me. And shoot me. Twice." Barry winced at the memory of Oliver's "training". He was never going to let that go.

"You know the Arrow? That is so cool!" Then she paused and frowned. "Wait, he SHOT you? When?"

"His version of training. Two arrows to the back. Painful." Iris laughed at his expression, which to her, looked like he was constipated.

"But why would you attack Eddie? That's not you Barry." He turned away and figured that he might as well go for it. "Iris, I was jealous of Eddie. Ever since I can remember, I have been in love with you. My dad saw it, Joe saw it, even Felicity saw it!"

Iris struggled to grasp the reality. "So that's why you didn't go out with her." she said softly.

"It hurt to wake up from the coma and see you with Eddie, but I didn't want to ruin things between you and him, and I didn't want our relationship to change."

Iris walked up to him and took his hands. She looked him in the eye and said, "Barry. I want you to know that things are kind of done between me and him. So, I think that I do have time for you." She leaned over and kissed Barry. They sat in silence for a moment, before Iris asked curiously, "How fast can you go?"

"So far my record in 837. Caitlin almost pulled out her hair when she saw me do that one." Iris laughed. "So, _Flash_, can I have an interview?"

Barry shook his head in response. "No, tomorrow though. I got to get back to the lab to finish some stuff up." he ran his fingers through his hair. "Joe is going to kill me."


	6. Henry

**I am sooo tired. Long day and I have no energy. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Come on people! How hard is it to do that?**

**To all other Fanfiction Authors: Are you surprised at how many times we have to write 'Particle Accelerator'?**

**This is short, I am sorry, but I have had a very exhausting day.**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

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Henry gazed fondly at his son through the scuffed up window. Even though every parent said it, Barry was just getting so big. He had a job, a home, and all he needed now was a girlfriend, but Iris was already taken. Barry had always been a little slow.

"I have been hanging out at Starr Labs. The equipment is so cool! And it really helps when I have a difficult case." Barry said excitedly. Even if he didn't have super powers, he would still hang out with those awesome people. Don't get him wrong, he loves Iris, but it was amazing to talk to someone who didn't have to ask for him to decode what he was saying.

They talked for a few more minutes, shared a laugh or two, and Barry was getting up to go home when a thud startled him. He walked over to the door and saw that it was locked, and glanced back to his father. Henry was frowning, and he knew something was up.

Barry raised his guard. A stream of water came out of nowhere and pushed him to the floor. It swirled around his head, preventing him from breathing, then suddenly pulled away. Barry gasped for breath while the water swirled into the form of a man and materialized. Another meta. It was a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes. A scar stretched from his left cheek to his right eye.

Barry glanced at his father. Henry had an open mouth with a stunned expression. If it weren't for the situation at hand, Barry would have laughed. He turned his attention back to the meta-human. He was similar to Kyle Nimbus, who could turn into poison gas, but it looked like this guy could turn into water.

The man turned to Henry and slipped through the cracks underneath the door. A few seconds later, Henry was fighting for breath. His punches did nothing against the liquid, and Barry knew he would have to act fast. He quickly vibrated his hand against the knob and it fell off.

Speeding his way to his father, Barry rushed to the other side of the window. He pulled his father out and the meta reformed.

"Stop! Why are you doing this?" Barry asked. His father had yet to notice his speed.

"Snart is gonna pay me three grand if I kill you." replied the man.

Barry narrowed his eyes. He should have guessed that he was behind this. How he knew who Barry was was a mystery, but that would be dealt with later. The man smirked and turned to water again, rushing toward Barry.

Time slowed down. He could see the individual droplets coming at him. He looked at his father and decided that he would rather reveal his secret than let himself or his father die. Barry's eyes flashed with lightning a split second before he sped off.

He rushed around the meta tornado style with a plan formulating. If this guy was like Nimbus, then he must have been using incredible amounts of energy to keep himself together. If he could disband the water he would be forced to reform and Barry could defeat him. Barry rushed around him, and the water started to swirl. He went faster and faster until the meta reformed. He stood gasping, his face vowing revenge. He pulled back his arm for a punch, but Barry dodged it and sent one of his own to the side of the jaw. It hit its mark and the guy fainted.

Barry picked him up and ran him over to Starr Labs with a little note to the team. Barry ran back to Iron Heights as fast as he could so no one would suspect he had even been gone. He cleaned up the slight mess that had been left and reattached the doorknob and sat down in front of his father with a sheepish smile, again separated by the window.

"So you're the one who saved Joe." Henry contemplated. Barry nodded, trying to figure out what to say.

"Remember when I said that I was going to find out who killed mom? That I got a new lead? Well, that lead is me." Barry sat back in the gray chair with a humorless chuckle. Henry's face burrowed into one of confusion. "But how?" he asked.

"When the Particle Accelerator exploded, various energies were released. Then the lightning hit me and it- it- changed my DNA, I guess you would say. Then I went into a coma."

"Huh. What else can you do?"

"Superspeed, that one's obvious, I can heal fast, run on water up the sides of buildings, and change my voice." He demonstrated and just like Joe, Henry burst into laughter.

"That last one comes in handy in case I have to talk to- wait, scratch that, _rescue_ Iris."

"And what about the others, are they-"

"-like me? Yeah. We're meta-humans. So far all except one have tried to kill me. Yay." Barry's gaze darkened as he remembered Bette. She was so nice, but her power was just too dangerous. And he couldn't even save her.

"Dr. Wells, Caitlin and Cisco are my team. In other words, Cisco is yelling in my earpiece while Caitlin freaks out and Dr. Wells offers advice. It's pretty cool." he finished.

"Joe came to talk to you. On the day that I battled my first meta, I saved his life from a crazy weather guy and he knew that I saw something that day. He believed my story and came here. Unfortunately, he was almost killed, but I had the antidote.

"How did you get it?"

"Well, I went to go stop Nimbus, the meta, and he got poison gas in my lungs. Thanks to my regeneration speed, I was able to make it back to Starr Labs. Caitlin put a large needle in my chest and I blacked out. But they got the sample and made an antidote." his grimaced in pain from the memory.

Henry put his hand against the glass. "Barry, I want you to know how proud I am of you. Even if you weren't the Flash or had superpowers, I need you to know that you are the best son a father could ever have."

Barry mirrored his father and a tear slid down his cheek. "Thanks dad."


	7. WHAT?

**This is for you Mini! NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!**

**ATTENTION! THIS IS A SPOOF! READ (AND LAUGH) AT YOUR OWN RISK!**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

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"Who is the Flash? I am the Flash!" announced Barry as he strolled into work. Everyone stopped and stared at him. Barry sped over to the other side of the room. "That is right! I AM THE FLASH!" He ran circles around everyone and stopped when he saw Eddie.

Grabbing some tinsel from around the room, he tied Eddie to a pole three feet above the ground. "That's what you get for trying to have me arrested." he said. He ran out, then ran back in again and addressed the captain. "Oh, and I was the one who stole your sandwich."

Barry sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. What? He calmed down as he saw that he was in Starr Labs. He laid back down with a sigh. That was undeniably weird. He wasn't one to go around acting all smug and stuff. He didn't get back to sleep for another hour, but when he did, he dreamt that Felicity and Oliver were getting married under a spaceship and that Diggle was dancing with a giant arrow.

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"Hey Caitlin? I think you need a new anesthestic." Barry sat up from a night recovering from another big bad man, one who threw a sword at him and hit him. Caitlin had been working on another anesthesia that would work with Barry's abilities, but she warned him that they _might_ have side effects.

"Yeah Barry? Why?"

"REALLY weird dreams." he responded.

"What about?"

"You don't want to know."


	8. Iris is a what?

**This one took a little bit of work but I fished it! AF, here you go!**

**Sorry about the long wait. I had FINALS! Bad, terrible things, finals, but at least I have 0 homework!**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

**OOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOooooooo**

The rain fell in waves outside of Jitters. Thunder rumbled in the distance, coming from all directions in the gray sky. The metal trashcans pinged and ponged, but there was no one outside to hear the beautiful music. Well, no one except Barry and Iris. They were walking together, under a yellow and white canopy, sprayed by the droplets bouncing off of the ground.

"Barry. I need to talk to you." Iris stopped and faced Barry. She had a single strand of hair on her face, and she brushed it back, only for it to stay there for two seconds. He stopped and shrugged his shoulders, nervous about what was to come.

"Bear, you cannot know how much helps me when you are cool around Eddie. I… know that you like me, and I really appreciate that." Iris blushed slightly, and she reached out for a hug. Barry held her for a few seconds, breathing in her pepper-minty scent. Then he paused. He sniffed again, it smelled… _sharper _somehow. He froze when he realized what he was smelling. Ozone. He had recognized it from his childhood, playing under the wool blankets. The scent of static electricity and _lightning_. He had just enough time to look up and see a flash of yellow before the world went black. In his last few seconds of conciousness, he felt Iris collapse in his arms. His mind flickered. _I hope Iris is okay._

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Detective Joe West was driving along in the heavy rain to go visit his daughter. Since he had been a little distant lately with work and dealing with Barry's abilities, he wanted to make it up to her with a surprise visit and a small present. Nothing much, just a pair of earrings, but hopefully it would make her day better.

He squinted through the rain splattered windshield. Of course on his day off. He turned to the positive side of things and realized that, hey, it was a free carwash.

He pulled up to Jitters, the best coffee place in the world and jumped out, rushing to get out of the rain. His gaze ran over the sidewalk and continued into the warm, fragrant atmosphere. He peered inside, looking for Iris but she was nowhere to be seen. He walked to the door, but as he reached for the handle, he saw two limp forms drenched in the rain. He curiously wandered over to see if it was a coat or something, but he froze when he recognized the soaked people lying on the ground.

He ran over to see both Barry and Iris knocked out, with raw wounds in various places. "Oh my god." he gasped.

He quickly pulled the two into his car, mindful of their mysterious injuries, and reached for his phone. He pulled out of Jitters when a soft female voice answered his call.

'_Hello?'_

"Caitlin, it's Joe. Barry and Iris are hurt, but I don't know what from. I found both of them lying on the ground outside of Jitters, and they have burns, or something." There was silence for a moment, and he heard muffled words through the phone.

'_Okay. Bring them here as fast as you can. We'll get everything ready.'_ She disconnected the call and Joe concentrated on saving his kids. Though Barry was not his son by blood, he loved him every bit as much.

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Joe pulled into the rugged parking lot at S.T.A.R. Labs. Cisco and Caitlin were already standing outside in the rain, ready with stretchers. They ran up as he cut the ignition, and all three helped place each person on the stretcher. Barry's fingers twitched and he let out a groan.

"Gaaaoooowww." He tried to sit up but a splitting headache prevented him from moving more than a few inches. The world was kind of fuzzy, but as he passed into the doors and the rain reduced to a low thudding, he dared to sit up again.

"Barry, I am going to kill you." Caitlin muttered. Barry half smiled. "Glad to see you too, Caitlin." She remained silent as they lifted him from the stretcher to the bed he was in while in a coma. Slowly the headache got better. He lifted himself up and took in his surroundings while sipping at a cup of water. Clean facility, no hospital smell, Cailin was here. Yep, he was at S.T.A.R Labs. He wasn't all that surprised. The only thing that bothered him was that Caitlin ran off to the other side of the room, not staying by the bed checking his injuries and being an overprotective mother hen.

He groggily stood up, his headache almost non-existent. He peered past the crowd of people to another person in a bed. At first he thought that it was another meta-human, but the last thing he remembered was Iris and lightning. Oh, no no no. Not Iris. He jogged at normal speed to his best friend's side, ignoring Cailin's protesting. There was an oxygen mask on her face and tubes in her arms. An IV slowly dripped in the corner. Her eyes were closed, and the only movement he could detect was the steady beat of her shallow breathing.

Barry only turned around when he heard the soft whirr of a wheelchair. He turned to Dr. Wells, desperation in his eyes. "What happened?" he questioned softly. Wells interlocked his finger and leaned forward, taking a breath. "It seems that both you and Miss West were struck by lightning." Barry had trouble comprehending. "What?" It took a second for the information to sink in. "Again? Really?"

Cisco wandered over with a sucker in his mouth. "It is nof uncommn or people foo be fruck by lifning twithe, but mof of em were mounan cimerf." Barry stared at him and Cisco took out the lollipop. "I SAID, it is not uncommon for people to be stuck by lightning twice, but most of them were mountain climbers." he repeated, glaring at him. He turned back to his tablet, tapping the screen a few times before saying, "It looks like the only reason Iris survived was because you absorbed most of the blast. If it were only her, the results would have been fatal."

Barry sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Sitting down on a chair, he gazed at her gentle expression, as if her mind had never registered that she had been inches away from losing her life. He leaned forward, intertwining his hands.

As he sat there, he became confused. The only noise he could hear was the steady beat of the heart monitor. But sometimes, it would go _beep_, _beep_, _silence_, _beepbeep_. He looked up, worried that her heart was stopping, just as she worried that his was a year ago. He stared at the screen, but nothing seemed to be amiss with it. He looked down at his hands and was shocked to see that they were vibrating uncontrollably. He stood up shakily, glancing around the large room. He struggled to walk at a (normal) pace to Caitlin.

"Caitlin, I think there's something wrong with me." he said as she raised an eyebrow. Cisco rolled over in an office chair and replied, "Dude, trust me. You are not the only one with problems." Barry glared at him until he rolled back to his previous position with his hands up. "I'm just sayin'."

Caitlin frowned and asked, "What's the wrong?"

Barry showed her his hands and murmured, "This." His hands were shaking, and every so often they would blur as they vibrated at superspeed. Cailin took them in her hands for a few moments and then announced, "I need a blood sample."

Ten minutes later, she had come back with the results. Dr. Wells had come back from doing who knows what and was observing with a watchful eye. "It seems that your DNA has changed again. We don't know how, but everything's going faster." She continued to look at the data until Barry suggested, "Why don't I run on the treadmill?" Everyone approved and soon he was running at eight hundred miles an hour.

"Before, his limit was about seven eighty when he was just going on the treadmill but now he is still accelerating." Cailin noted. Barry continued to increase his speed until he hit a plateau of a staggering twelve hundred thirty miles per hour. Cisco's treadmill would only take about twelve fifty so he hurried off to improve and 'Ciscofy' it some more.

Another day had passed, and Iris had still not woken. Barry sat by her side for about two hours a day and only work and crisis' around the city could pull him away. He watched her, wondering if this was what Iris had to sit through for nine months. It had killed him for two days, so he didn't know how the journalist survived nine months without her best friend.

She was steady now. All the tubes and wires were gone. The only thing left was for her to wake up. Oh, gosh. This was going to be a very long time.

A few minutes later, Dr. Wells rolled in along with Cisco and Caitlin. All had a troubled look and Barry sensed that something was off. He stood up and stiffly walked over to the group, limping as he stepped on his left foot, which was asleep. He stopped next to Cisco. "What's up?" he asked nervously. Caitlin took a breath. "I'm not sure how to say this but…"

"But what?" She looked to Cisco for help. He blurted, "Iris is a meta-human! Oops." Caitlin shot daggers at him.

Barry could only stare at them. "What?" Dr. Wells spoke up. "It seems that your friend Miss West has... _aquired_ abilities not unlike your own." Caitlin continued, "She is reflecting the state your body was in during the first few days of your coma, but she seems to be recovering faster than we had expected. We believe that is due to the fact that you were struck too."

They walked over to Iris. Barry admitted, "Well, when she wakes up, I'm gonna have to tell her. I mean, if she is like me, we can't leave her in the dark." Barry rubbed his ears like he always did when he was stressed. "Oh man, she's going to KILL me. And what about Joe?" He paused. "Oh gosh, what am I going to tell Joe?"

"Yes Barry, what are you going to tell me?" a familiar voice asked pointedly. Joe strolled in with his hands in his pockets. He asked, "Well?"

Barry took a deep breath and for once, decided to try it Cisco's way. "Iris is a meta-human." Whatever Joe had been expecting, it was not that. He did a double take and said, "What?"

"Iris is a meta-human." Barry repeated. "She got struck by lightning and somehow, it had the same effect on her as it did me." He sat down, glad to have it off his shoulders (even though it had only been for a few minutes.) Joe sat next to him and caressed his daughter's hair. "Iris, oh my baby." he said as he turned back to Barry. "So she's like you now, isn't she?" Barry nodded in reply. "I'm just trying to figure out how to tell her when she wakes up." They both lingered on those words. _When she wakes up._

A sudden gasp made them both jump. Just as Barry had, Iris had sat up, breathing heavily. The team ran in. Cisco ran to his tablet and started monitoring her vitals while Cailin was shining a light in Iris's eyes. Barry pulled her back. "What are doing? Don't freak her out like you did with me!" Cailin glared at him but backed off. Iris fell back and rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, what happened? I feel like I was hit by a bus." she moaned. Joe was massaging her hand, trying to calm her. "Well, you were close. You got struck by lightning." he replied. Iris froze, and then sighed. Barry sat down next to her and gave her a side hug. "Barry! I didn't know you were here!" she exclaimed.

"Well, you are worth being on time for." he laughed. Iris almost jerked back in shock. That was the exact same thing that Flash had said to her. Those two really have to meet.

"Thanks Barry."

Dr. Wells rolled in, his expression impassive as usual. "Miss West, I am glad to see you awake. You gave us all quite a scare."

Iris suddenly became troubled. "How long was I out?" she asked worriedly. Cailin answered, "Only for a couple days. You should thank Barry. He got hit with the worst of the strike." Iris's attention shot to Barry. "And you're okay, right?"

He took her hand and held it to his chest. "Still beating." he said as he smiled. He pulled away, his expression both soft and wary. "I'll let you rest." he said. Iris thanked him and Cailin looked her over to make sure that she was truly ok, and if she really was like Barry. At least this time would be easier; she had Barry's data to compare it to.

Barry pulled Joe over, with Cisco and Wells listening too. "How are we supposed to tell her?" he asked, his hands wringing in agitation. Joe suggested, "We could just tell her straight out.." Barry shook his head. He had an impending sense of doom if they tried that approach. Then Cisco asked, "What if she ran on the treadmill and took a video or something?"

Dr. Wells said, "That is so crazy it might actually work." Cisco continued, "And what if you," he gestured to Barry, "ran with her? That would be so cool!"

Barry commented, "She probably won't realize it until we show her the video. When I get going, It looks like everything is normal except people are really, REALLY slow." They discussed the details a few minutes more and Dr. Wells asked, "Any objections?" All were in agreement.

Caitlin had been informed too. She didn't like it one bit but she agreed to it. She politely asked, "Hey Iris? Could you come here for a second?" Iris walked over and awaited instruction. "What do you need me to do?" she asked.

Caitlin gestured to the treadmill and replied, "We need you to run on it. We would like to see how your body is recovering, and this is one of the best ways to do it." Iris climbed onto it and started jogging.

Soon, white lightning crackled and circled her. Barry noted, "She's not going very fast. Only about four hundred." Caitlin answered, "Well, she has only had her powers for a few days and is not even close to having the skill you have."

Cisco began to 'discreetly' hold up his tablet to film her in action. "Oh man, that is awesome. It looks like everyone has a different color. Red, yellow, white. I wonder what color I would have?" Cisco pondered. Barry chuckled and said, "When would you like to be struck by lightning?" Cisco shut up.

Caitlin announced, "Okay Iris, I'm bringing her down!" Iris came back to a run, a jog, and then a walk. She asked, partially out of breath, "How did I do?" The team awkwardly answered 'Good!' 'Awesome' and 'This is going to be insane.'

Caitlin picked up Cisco's tablet and seemed to struggle to find the words. "Iris, I- _We_ have something to show you." She hit the play button and turned the screen so everyone could see. Iris's blurred form with strands of electricity swirling around her filled the screen. Iris frowned, not understanding. "Is there something wrong with the video, or-"

Barry cut her off. "Iris, that's you. The video is fine."

Iris gaped. She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it just as fast. She was like _him?_ She had the same powers as Flash? She looked up, scared and confused. "What -?"

Joe answered her, and it broke his heart to see her in distress. "Baby, when you were struck by the lightning, you were… changed. I know it is hard to believe, but it is the truth."

Iris stared at her father for a few seconds and then burst into tears. Barry looked hopelessly at her and asked the others to leave. They did so without a sound, and Barry nodded to Joe. He was going to tell her.

Barry took her hands and she looked up into his eyes. "Oh, Barry." she whispered, and she buried her head in his shoulder. He let her be for a few minutes, and then nudged her up.

"Iris. Iris, I need you to look at me." She did so and he could see the fear in her eyes. "Hey, hey, it is going to be all right." Iris just shook her head. "No, it's not. People are going to come fro me and I'll be an outcast and- and-" Her whole body shook at the force of her sobs. Barry wasn't going to let her go like this.

"Iris, it IS going to be okay. I- I have something to tell you." Iris stopped crying, though every now and then lone tear would slip down her face.

"Iris, I am like you." She could only stare at her best friend incomprehensibly. "I am the Flash." he admitted. Iris repeated, "You… are.. the Flash." She took another breath to calm herself and Barry explained, "When I was first hit by lightning, I got superspeed. Cailin and Cisco and Dr. Wells discovered it and that is why they moved me here. I couldn't stay at a regular hospital. My heart beat too fast, I couldn't handle painkillers. So, I spent nine months of my life here."

"We don't know how it happened, but another bolt of lightning struck me, and in turn, struck you. I didn't really like getting hit _again, _but if it had only been you, you probably would have died." he said. Iris gave him a hug, breathing in his soft scent, and then slapped him. "Ow! What was that for?" he cried.

"For not telling me! You know that I have shared every single one of my secrets with you!" she accused. Barry sighed and replied, "Okay. No more secrets." Iris asked quickly, "Anything I should know about?"

Barry thought about Oliver and his team, but then decided he didn't want to be shot again. If Oliver wanted to tell her, he would. He answered truthfully, "Not off the top of my head. If anything does come up though, I will tell you."

Barry grinned, his sense of fun returning. "You wanna race?" he asked. Iris grinned. "Yeah." The two ran off into the city, weaving around each other. Iris relished the feeling of freedom. The feeling of Barry. She grinned and raced off into the distance, yellow and white electricity crackling.


	9. Here comes the Captain

**Okay, so I finally finished this chapter! I am sooooo happy because I got a professional writing journal and I LOVE it!**

**I will do a sequel to Chapter 8 with Oliver, so don't worry. It will be up by January 20th.**

**I hope I didn't go too OOC for Captain Singh. I don't have a lot to go on for him.**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

**OooooooOOOoooooOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooO**

Barry sighed, tossing the number two pencil he was using to fill out information on a case to the side. He rubbed his temples, unsuccessfully trying to ease his pounding headache. He chuckled to himself, slightly amused by his own thoughts. Even though he had cellular regeneration, it didn't mean that he was invincible against headaches caused by stress and anxiety.

Various causes of his worries were the return of the man in the yellow suit (which Cisco still had yet to name), the futile effort of getting his father out of prison, and keeping his identity a secret all kept him up at night. Although comical, his slip up at Starling City only reinforced the team's cautiousness concerning Barr's identity.

Footsteps jolted him out of his chaotic thoughts and he looked up to a blonde man standing in the entrance to his lab looking quite nervous.

Barry addressed him, wondering what he could want. "Eddie. Can I help you, or something?" he asked. The cop hesitantly walked over to where Barry was seated in a rolling office chair. Barry gently pushed it back and forth, taking refuge in the soft rythemic motion, sensing turmoil of emotion in the usually calm and collected man.

Eddie debated for a moment whether he should sit or stand, ultimately deciding to remain upright with his arms tense and crossed over his chest. He hesitated once more, questioning his words one last time before taking the plunge.

"Barry, uh, yeah." he stopped, and Barry tilted his head slightly to the right. Eddie was always the cool, calm, collected guy, no matter the situation. Whatever the he wanted to talk about, he was extremely nervous. Barry panicked for a moment, letting his fears take over his mind. Was Eddie going to propose to Iris? No, not so soon after asking her to move in with him.

"I'm kind of worried about Iris." Eddie started. "You know that she wrote her blog about the Flash, and I'm sure that you heard about the _incident_, and the Flash hurt her, and what Im trying to get at is that she doesn't seem like herself." he paused. "And before the Christmas party, she seemed off, and she wasn't telling me something. Do you have any idea what it is, or how I can help her?" he finished.

Barry sighed, and decided to answer truthfully. "Eddie, please don't hate me after this, but I know why Iris seemed off." Eddie raised an eyebrow but remained silent. "I may or may not have told Iris that I like her." he admitted. Eddie's suspicions had been confirmed. He had seen the look of longing in his eyes whenever he and Iris kissed, and after a few times he was sure that he hadn't imagined the whole thing.

Barry continued, rushing and tripping over his words as he spoke. "I know that the timing couldn't be worse, and I know that you two are together but I'm not trying to get between you. A day before the party, Iris came to me and asked me if I liked her. I told her no, because it would make things weird between us. But after I talked with my dad, I couldn't stand lying to her anymore, so I told her." he paused, a tear threatening to roll down his cheek. Eddie shifted his weight, again his usual composed self.

"I guess I waited too long. I was so afraid of losing her like my mom and dad that I did."

Eddie stood there, analyzing the situation before reaching a conclusion. "Barry, you are a good guy. I know that you didn't want to complicate things, and that is why you did what you did. If there is one thing we have in common, it is seeing Iris happy." he said. The two sat in silence for a minute before Eddie turned to leave. Bidding Barry goodnight, he walked out the door and down the stairs, trying to process everything that had occurred in the last few minutes.

OOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooOOOooooOOOooooOOO

The next day, Barry woke up to a phone call from Joe. Sent just minutes ago, he surmised that the ringtone wa what woke him up. He listened to the message, which stated that a man had stolen ten thousand dollars from a local bank, injuring one. Barry, using his speed to get to work early for once, walked into a parking lot, covered with miles of yellow tape. He ducked under a particularly twisted strand and almost tripped over the curb. Blushing, he awkwardly stumbled over to where Joe was looking at some evidence. He rose up from catcher's position to standing and greeted Barry.

"Hey. I assume you got my message?" he said. Barry nodded in reply, taking a good long look at the crime scene. He frowned, slightly confused. "What happened here?" he asked, what exactly caused the chaotic scene before him.

"A crazy guy, don't know who he is, strolled into the lot last night. He broke into the bank, and the alarms went off. The officer on duty confronted him, and got shot. After that, he stole ten thousand and got away. The person who was shot said he acted weird. Like, not normal weird, but insane." Joe looked concerned. "We have to be careful with this one." he warned. Joe strolled off, leaving Barry to do his thing. He soon had finished collecting evidence and was pulling off his gloves when he heard someone shout.

"I think we've got something!" Barry jogged over to a nearby alley, where he saw Eddie and Captain Singh looming over something. As he got closer, he saw a sewer drain in the corner of the alley, and a few hundreds trapped underneath, peeking out beneath the heavy metal disk.

Captain Sing let one of his rare smiles show. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" he wondered out loud. Eddie grunted, lifting up the cover and rolled it to the side and said, "I'm going down there to see if there's anything." before hopping in. Seeing nothing of interest, he started to climb up the rusty iron ladder that led up, happy to get away from the smelly, dirty and dark space.

Fr- freez!" Eddie jerked up, hitting his head on the edge of the opening. He bit back a curse, and jumped to his feet, back on the surface again. Standing in the entrance to the alley, a man, shaking and clearly unstable, was pointing a gun at the three men. "I said freeze!" the man shouted. "What are you doing, breaking into my house? Trying to steal my money?" he asked, his voice wavering, but not from fear. "Answer me!" he shouted.

Eddie tried to reason with him, using soft tones. "We're just looking, we will be gone soon." he said, trying to calm him down. The man just cocked his head and said, "Well, you might not leave alive." He smiled and pulled the trigger.

Time slowed down. Barry could see that the bullet would hit Eddie, but he didn't have enough time to move him. So he ran, eyeing the bullet's trajectory, and reached out.

Barry _caught_ the bullet.

To everyone else, Barry had been to the right of the Captain when suddenly he was gone, ending up a foot in front of Eddie, with his arm outstretched. The police force was stunned, and the crazy guy lost his smile. Barry dropped the bullet, glancing back at the others, who were drawing their guns, astonished. Barry, deciding that they had already saw his powers, had nothing to lose, ran. The man, becoming increasingly angry, fired over and over./ Barry grabbed the two others and placed them outside the entrance to the alley before running back to take on the man. Using some 'borrowed' handcuffs, he successfully bound and gagged the shooter.

Leaning back against the red brick wall, Barry took deep breaths. Captain Singh and Eddie ran in, surprised to see the man tied up before returning their attention to Barry. Eddie choked out, "Barry, what the-" he broke off, turning his gaze to his shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

Barry glanced at it, seeing red under the cloth. "And the adrenaline wears off." he muttered weakly. He pushed his sleeve up, gasping in pain as his fingers brushed over the bullet would. Captain Singh lost all of his sarcastic remarks when he saw the blood.

"Barry, come on, we need to get you to the hospital." he ordered. Barry shook his head. "No! They can't help me much." He sat back in silence, trying to control his thoughts. The other two were confused. The wound wasn't immediately life threatening, so why would he say that?

"Phone." Barry asked, stretching out his good arm. "Phone, now please." he asked again. Eddie pulled out his and handed it to Barry, who dialed a number and put it to his ear. Captain Singh shook his head and said for it to be on speaker phone. Barry sighed but complied to his request.

"Hi Caitlin, it's Barry."

"_Are you okay? Are you hurt?" _a female voice asked.

"No, and yes." Barry recited.

"_Was it a meta?"_

Barry answered, "Not a meta-human, just your average neighborhood gun-toting insane guy." Eddie froze. So Barry knew too? Joe had said that only he and himself knew about them.

"I got shot, my left shoulder. it's starting to heal. What do I do?" he asked. Captain Singh looked, and true to his words, the wound was already closing.

"_It would take too long for you to run over here, so you are going to have to do this yourself."_ Caitlin said. Barry nodded, it would take at least three minutes to get to S.T.A.R. Labs from here. "_Barry, this is going to hurt, I'm sorry. But you have to take the bullet out before you completely geal around it." _

Silence. Barry slowly felt the wound, identified its location, and reached in. Groaning from the effort, he searched around until he found the projectile. With a final grunt, he pulled it out and dropped it on the ground. "Oooooooaaghhhh!" he yelled. He took a few breath before saying, "Did it."

"_Okay, come to S.T.A.R. Labs as soon as you can. Bye." _she said.

"I better go." Barry said, wincing. Captain Singh and Eddie could only nod. Barry sped off, berating himself for letting them see him in action.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooOOOooOOoOOooOOooOooOO

Barry was checking his phone when he heard a familiar voice come from a missed call. "_Barry, I want to see you in my office tonight. No exceptions." _It was from Captain Singh. Barry sighed, looking around the place where he had lived for about a decade. The West household was nice. Nice smell, nice furniture, and most importantly, nice people. He shut down his phone, hoping that the meeting wouldn't go horribly wrong. He was beginning to understand why Oliver hated telling people about his identity.

Joe stood in the doorway, but Barry was oblivious to his presence. He frowned, staring at his foster son. Something was up, and Joe was going to get to the bottom of this. He walked up behind him, placed his hands on his hips, and said, "Spill it."

Barry whirled around, surprised, but then became confused. "What do you mean?" he asked, genuinely wondering what he meant. Joe sat down next to him, pointing a finger accusingly. "I _mean _whatever happened today." Barry opened his mouth to speak but Joe cut him off. "And don't even think about lying to me." Barry sighed and then explained, "Earlier today, I used my powers to save Eddie from being shot. The Captain was there too. I also got shot with a bullet." He said the last part bitterly. It was one of the hardest and most painful things he ever had to do in his whole life. Physically, of course.

"And now Captain Singh wants me to come to his office tonight and I'm pretty sure Eddie is going to be there too." he concluded.

Joe didn't have to think about the words he wanted to say. "I'm coming with you." he insisted. Barry shook his head, determined to not drag Joe into this whole mess. "No Joe. You'll just get in trouble."

Joe stood up and grabbed his coat. "Eddie's gonna be there, and I need to explain some stuff to him. I haven't exactly been honest with him." he said. Barry didn't argue, much to Joe's relief, and the two drove to the police station, nervous about what was to come.

They made their way through the dark, temporarily abandoned halls until they reached the Captain's office. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open to see Eddie and Captain Singh sitting, Eddie in a regular chair and Captain Singh behind his desk.

"Glad you could join us Mr. Allen, Detective West." the Captain said with a sharp edge to his tongue. Once they were settled, he asked pointedly, "Barry, is there anything you wish t tell us?" The tension was so thick that only a timberjack could cut through it. Captain Singh only used first names when said person was in real trouble. All eyes were on Barry, varying from pity, concern, curiosity, and even a slight bit of anger. Barry nodded, taking a deep breath. "Uh, yeah. I do need to tell you something." he paused.

"I am the Flash."

Silence. Eddie, if possible, looked even more shocked than he already was when Barry was shot in the alley. He turned to Joe, who sat back in his chair nonchalantly. "You knew." he whispered. At this, Captain Singh leaned forward. "Is that so? Why didn't you tell me?" he pressed. Joe shrugged. "It wasn't my secret to tell." he simply said, letting his words sink in.

Eddie asked, "So what happened today?" Barry thought for a moment, and then said, "Well, I got hit with a bullet, and my body started to heal around it. You couldn't take me to a hospital because the anesthesia doesn't work on me. My metabolism is too high. The people at S.T.A.R. labs are my team. That's why I called Caitlin."

Captain Singh asked, "So why do you run around, doing what you do?" Barry replied, "Same as you. I want to protect Central City and find other meta-humans."

The Captain frowned. "Meta-humans?"

Barry explained, "People who were affected on a cellular level by the Particle Accelerator explosion. Like me." His expression turned dark. "Unfortunately, besides, me, there has only been one other non-hostile meta, and she died a few weeks ago."

Eddie was taken aback. "I'm sorry for your loss." he said. He was still struggling to see Barry was the man who saved people on a daily basis, and it was even harder for him to picture Barry as the guy who attacked him in the street. He shook his head, troubled. Captain Singh took notice and asked, "What's wrong?"

Eddie replied, fidgeting uncomfortably. "It's just, that night when, you know…"

Barry put his head in his hands, groaning. "Uh, one of the worst nights of my life." He turned to Eddie. "Do you remember that bank robbery, the one where everyone went berserk?" Eddie nodded, catching on. "Are you saying you got hit, or something?"

"Yeah. He was a rage inducing meta. I happened to get blasted. The way it works is that it overloads your emotional and tactile control. The parts of the brain that prevent you from doing whatever stupid and potentially dangerous thing that pops into your head goes on overdrive." He sighed, not wanting to live through the memory again. "Your emotions get amplified, and thanks to my speed, I was able to hold it in, but the longer you wait, the bigger the explosion." he explained.

"If the Arrow hadn't shown up…" he drifted off, refusing to consider the possibilities. Captain Singh gasped. "You know the Arrow?" Barry almost laughed at his flabbergasted expression. "Yeah, I met him before the lightning. I happened to save his life and he owed me." They sat in silence for a minute before Eddie broke it. "So what now?" he asked.

"Well, it would be nice if you could call off the task force. You could say there is not room in the budget, or something. " Barry suggested. Captain Singh sighed. "We'll take it into consideration." he replied. Barry visibly relaxed, and the meeting came to an unofficial close.

As they walked out, Barry stopped Eddie. "I want you to know that it's never going to happen again and-"

Eddie cut him off. "Barry, it's okay. You weren't thinking straight." he held his hand out. "Are we good?" Barry stared at it, then grabbed it. "We're good." he said. The two walked off when Eddie noted, "Actually, this explains a lot." Barry asked, "Like what?"

"Like why you don't have a car." Barry laughed and said goodbye, deciding to walk home. He took a deep breath, relishing the cool air. Things were going to change, for better or for worse.


	10. PLEASE HELP ME

**Sorry about the wait, I had a major case of writer's block because I couldn't figure out how Iris was going to find out about Oliver. Then I thought, 'Hey, I'll ask the readers what they want and write it!' So PLEASE send me ideas! PLEASE!**

**ATTENTION!- PLEASE SEND ME IDEAS!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS A LITTLE BIT GRAPHIC, SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!**

**nochance- Thanks, I am an Olicity shipper (and I'm a girl) and I think they are perfect for each other.**

**I am super proud of my inspirational speeches. I have always had a knack for them, but I stink at fight scenes. Anyway, ignore the fact that Oliver is dead (Oliver? Dead? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAno.) So pretend he never left.**

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

**OOOOOOoooOOooOooooooOOOooOOoooOOOooOOOOOooooOOOoooooOOoooOO**

Iris whooped, delighted at the fact that she had just run over water. She was amazed at the feeling of mist in her face, and she beamed brighter that the sun. It had taken her several weeks to gain the speed she needed to do so. Barry, on the other hand, had been steadily increasing his speed, to the point where Cisco had to upgrade the treadmill, something he was happy to do. And he actually made it more useful; now when Iris or Barry ran, it would generate electricity. With so many rooms unoccupied (or destroyed), they cut the power costs in half, which meant that they had more money for Cisco to make his crazy inventions. Plus they now had an infrared satilite and a new suit for her.

Iris really wanted one, mostly because when she ran she got burns all over her body, and even with cellular regeneration, she didn't want unnecessary pain. For a late Christmas present, Cisco and Caitlin had given her a beautiful orangy-red suit, the color of a classic Central City sunset. It was made of the same material Barry's was, and had the same basic design except for the various pockets and attachments, like a small rectangle shaped pocket for a knife, for just in case. Plus he had installed four pouches in the ankles for energy bars. Cisco and Caitlin were working on a liquified version to save space, but right now, it tasted like cat puke, and the two speedsters could down it without gagging. When she and Barry told him how it tasted, Cisco immediately set out to find a flavoring (or lack there of) that wouldn't sacrifice any of the nutrients or space.

She ran to the edge of the city limits, stopping to enjoy the beautiful view of the pink and purple clouds caused by the sunset, and turned to head back to S.T.A.R. Labs when she spotted something peculiar. In the middle of a nearby field, she could see shards of twisted metal and splinters of wood radiating out from a focal point. Iris jogged over, wary of the street lights and steep ditch to her right. She kicked over some rubble with a slender foot, gaping at the destruction. She shuddered to think about exactly _what_ had caused it. Blinking lights caught her attention, and a strange object slightly off center from the center of the crater was glowing. It had several lights on it, and wires poked out here and there.

She untied the mask on her face to see better. Unlike Barry's, Iris' mask consisted of a single piece of cloth with two eyes holes, a lot like Arrow's. She prefered, saying it looked more feminine.

Iris bent down and touched the device, and jumped back in surprise when it beeped. She took another step back when she heard it go _beep beep beep BEEEEEP!_ Almost too late, she recognized the familiar sound of a ticking bomb.

_BOOM!_

Iris ran as fast as she could the other way, dodging shrapnel every few seconds. Her heart stopped when she tripped over a half buried rock, but got up and kept running. Unfortunately, she failed to remember about the ditch, and fell into it, rolling over and over before finally coming to a stop. Once she overcame her vertigo and the flames ceased to exist, she allowed herself to sit up and relax. As far as she could tell, she had a few cuts and burns, but she would recover.

"Iris, you there?" Cisco called, worry evident in his voice. Iris nodded, though he couldn't see her through the comm attached to her right leg. She slid it out and pressed the button. "Yeah, I think I'm okay." she replied. Muffled voices came through, and Caitlin said nervously, "I wouldn't be too sure. According to the readings on your suit, you are losing a lot of blood near your left leg. Iris felt her thigh gingerly, and her hand came back up warm and sticky, not to mention bright red. She pressed the comm link. "Yeah, I'm bleeding. I'm going to try to run back." Iris shakily stood up and put weight on her bad leg. Immediately stifling a groan, she sank back to her previous position. "On second though, I think I'll stay here." she panted, the pain started to sink in, the adreneline gone.

She took her mask, amazed that she had been clenching it the entire time, and tied it around her upper thigh in an attempt to stop, or at least slow the bleeding. She knew that she would heal faster than she would before the lightning, but the bleeding would need to stop first, and she was pretty sure there was a chunk of metal imbedded in the wound.

Cisco called back, "Hang on. I'll get Barry to come and get you."

Iris leaned back and took a deep breath. Depending on if he was working or not, Barry's arrival could range from five minutes to half an hour. This was going to be a long night.

OOoooooOOOoooooOOOOooooOOOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOooooOOOOoooOOOOooooo

Barry was in a meeting with the Captain, along with half a dozen other CCPD members, with Joe not present. He stood listening to the droning voice of Captain Singh when his phone rang. All eyes turned on him, and he fumbled to turn it off until he saw the caller ID. It was Caitlin. He pressed the green power button, holding the phone to his ear.

"Barry, Iris is in trouble." Caitlin said.

"I'm in the middle of a meeting." Barry replied, irritated at the timing and nervous about his best friend.

"Then tell them I'm in the hospital, or something." Caitlin retorted. "Just make up something, and hurry, because she's not doing well."

"Okay. Bye."

Captain Singh approached Barry, glaring at him. If there was one thing that ticked him off, it was people interrupting his meetings. "Mr. Allen. Who was that?" he asked pointedly.

Barry dodged the question. "Sir, I've got to go, and-" Captain Singh cut in. "Why is that?" Barry didn't have to fake a worried tone, desperate to get to Iris. "My friend Caitlin's in the hospital."

The feeling in the room turned from curiosity and shaming to pity. Captain Singh sighed, not wanting him to leave. "Go." he simply said. Stammering his thanks, Barry made his way out the door. He reached the outside, and careful to not let anyone see him, he rushed to S.T.A.R Labs. He slowed from nearly a thousand miles an hour to a fairly normal speed, walking. Shouting, "Where is she?" to the team.

Dr. Wells wordlessly pulled up Iris' location on the main monitor and Barry took off running. He didn't see Caitlin's tear streaked face or Cisco fiddling with a rubik's cube, something he only did when he was worried beyond belief. He ran as fast as he could, because if he didn't get there in time, he didn't know what he would do with himself.

Once at the field, Barry zig-zagged across the empty lot, searching. A faint, strangled groan diverted his attention to a nearby ditch. He sld down the slick slope, digging in his heels to keep his balance. He could soon see the limp form of Iris, hunched against the side of the hill with her mask wrapped around her leg and a pained expression on her face. His footsteps alerted her to his presence, and she lifted a shaky hand in greeting. As Barry crouched beside her and gently ran his fingers over the wound she shivered, though not from the cold. Barry gasped at the amount of blood she was losing, and her suit was torn up in several places. "What happened?" he asked, the worst scenarios running through his head. Iris replied softly, feeling light headed, "Boom…" Barry, as carefully as he could, picked up Iris bridal style, and ran as steadily as he could back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

Caitlin glanced at the screen that tracked Barry and Iris' movements and relaxed. Both were on their way. She proceeded to prepare a table for Iris, so she didn't have to wait for her to get the supplies out.

A soft _whoosh_ let Caitlin know that Barry and Iris had made it back, and she quickly gathered the rest of the equipment and rushed to Iris, who was laying on the table. She took shuddering breaths, and Barry was slowly pulling off the makeshift tournequet. Caitlin didn't dare try to get Iris out of the suit, so she had to resort to cutting off the cloth, which she knew Cisco would dislike. But to her surprise, Cisco didn't say a word, showing that he was truly afraid for the female speedster. She began to clean the blood from around the cut, until she got a good view of the injury. It was a large gash, about four inches long, with bits of metal poking out. Caitlin gasped at the severity, but then steeled herself and set to work, grabbing the longest pair of tweezers she own and a shot of 600 proof.

"Here. Drink this." Caitlin commanded. Iris didn't argue, and swallowed the drink, gasping at the strength. Caitlin knew it wouldn't work for long, and started to inch the metal out. There was only one chunk, thankfully, but she feared that it would cause more damage coming out, but she couldn't leave it in. In the last few centimeters, Iris clenched the table and Barry's hand, which turned purple. He didn't complain, just letting her hold his hand. Caitlin pulled the metal out and laid it on the table. It was a good two by three inches, and about a milimeter thick.

Caitlin poured water over the wound to prevent infection. It was a rudimentary way to cleanse the injury, but the fastest one quickly caterized the wound and stitched it while Iris was awake and feeling. It was amazing that she was still concious,considering what she had gone through. Caitlin let out a sigh, convinced that she was out of immediate danger. She glanced at the clock; she had been working for twenty minutes, a long time for the situation. She forced herself to go and talk to Barry to prevent a trip down the rabbit hole. She would become so focused on her work, she would stop eating and sleeping. Cisco and Dr. Wells were the only people to see her do so, except for Ronnie. After the explosion, Cisco had taken his place as the person to drag her out when she went too far.

She shook the thought away, walking to Barry, who was sitting next to a sleeping Iris. She sat down and assured, "She'll make it." Barry just continued to caress Iris' hand, keep watch over her. He looked troubled, and Caitlin frowned at his expression. Noticing her concern, he explained, "I just don't know what I would have done if I didn't get there in time. I wouldn't be able to live with myself." he admitted.

Caitlin responded warmly, "But you did. And she is going to be okay." She paused. "Do you know what happened?"

Barry chuckled humourlessly. "I've seen my fair share of cases, and many of them were bombs. When I got to her, there was debris everywhere. And when I asked her what happened, she said 'boom'."

They sat in silence, neither wanting to talk. Barry stared at Iris' limp form. He hated the steady, shallow beat of her breathing. It reminded him too much of the first time.

OOOoooOOooOOoooOOoooOOooOOoooOOooOOOoooOOoooOOOooooOOoooOOooooO

Joe paced, passing by various vials of substances in Barry's lab. "So there was an explosion?" he asked. Barry replied, "Yeah. It seems who ever set the first bomb left an extra in its place, in case anybody found it. Then it would go off…" he trailed. Joe still looked concerned. "And Iris is okay?" Barry nodded, relieved that the stitches had finally come out. "Yeah, it took an extra day, but she's all better now."

Joe pondered for a moment, wondering what to do about the situation. "Do you have any clues about who did this?" he questioned. Barry shook his head again, just as clueless about the bomber as he was. "I'll get a sample from the site, try to get an idea of where the supplies had come from." He rubbed his hands together, eager to get to the bottom of it. "It might take a while, though." Barry admitted. Joe nodded. His years of being a detective made him become used to waiting on evidence.

A few hours later at S.T.A.R. Lab, Barry was watching Caitlin put the shards of metal from the explosion in the analyzing machine. He sighed, impatient for the results to come in. He was used to everything being fast. Cisco was in the corner, testing out whatever invention he was making, much to Caitlin's worry. Barry didn't see Dr. Wells anywhere, but that had become the usual. Iris was working at Jitters, trying to make enough money for some new headphones.

"Knock-ity knock-ity!" Barry whirled around to see a smiling Felicity at the door. He jumped up, happy to see a friend. "Hey Felicity! It's great to see you!" They hugged, and Caitlin and Cisco were just as excited as he was. "What are you doing here?" Cisco asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"One, to get the sample," She glanced appreciatively at Caitlin. "and two, we, meaning the team, need your help." she said. "With what?" Barry questioned curiously. "Recently, a bomb went off in Starling City. There was a second bomb in its place and it exploded on contact." she explained. Barry's eyes widened and he heard Caitlin gasp. That was exactly what happened to Iris. "We tracked the person here." Felicity finished.

Barry quickly said, "We had the same thing happen a few days ago." Felicity replied, "Then he's definitely here. Oliver and Roy stayed back to take care of some stuff, but now that we know he's here, they can come and take care of it with you."

He brightened up at the prospect of teaming up, but then his face fell. Now that Iris was a meta and a part of the team, Oliver would have to reveal his identity to her, something which he would not be happy with. Barry stammered, "Uh, there might be a slight problem with that." Felicity frowned, clearly confused. "Why?"

"Iris is a meta-human." he revealed.

"What?"

"Iris is a meta." he repeated. "She's like me now, and a part of the team, so he's going to have to tell her."

Silence met his words. Felicity gaped, more shocked at the prospect of Oliver revealing his identity than Iris' power. She couldn't wrap her head around the idea. And judging his reaction to Barry saving his _life_ by trying to choke him, this was not going to go down well.

She shook her head, stammering, "But Oliver, he won't, isn't there a way, Iris not knowing, I mean if…" she trailed off, coming to the same conclusion as Barry. "He has to tell her." she admitted, hanging her head in defeat. He nodded, saying, "This is not going to be pretty."

oOOOOooooOOOOOoooooOOOOoooooOOOOOOooooooOOOOOooooooOOOOOOoooOO

"You want me to _what_?" Oliver yelled, slamming his fist on the desk. Iris was apparently a meta-human and Felicity was demanding him to reveal his identity. He was already to team up again, but now… there was no way he was going to Central City.

It was necessary for his identity to remain a secret. Not only did it give Arrow more power and leeway with the citizens, if the world found out who he was, then everyone would be in danger. His family, friends, even the city would be under constant attack from his enemies, old and new. He couldn't risk that.

Felicity was getting frustrated. "We don't like it any more than you do, but even Dr. Wells thinks that it will protect her." she reasoned.

"So let's just tell everyone in Central City who I am, huh?" he thundered. He was also reaching his tipping point, steadfast in his decision.

There was one other reason for him to hide his identity. In his mind, the Arrow had always been _the other guy_. Lately, he had been having a hard time distinguishing between the two. He needed to keep them separate. He was afraid. That was right, Oliver Queen was afraid. Afraid of becoming _him_, afraid to let his emotions take over, afraid to hurt the ones he loved and cared about. And the more people who knew who he was, the closer they became to being one and the same, not Oliver, not Arrow, but Oliver the Arrow. And he couldn't do that, make him do that to himself.

Felicity, though miles away and talking on a phone, seemed to sense what he was thinking. "Oliver, I know you don't want to, but people are going to get hurt if you don't stop him. We know he is in Central City, because the exact same thing happened. And the reason we know that is that Iris was the one who almost got killed by the remaining bomb!" Her voice cracked, dropping to a low whisper, desperate to get her point across. "We owe that to her. If she didn't have her powers, she would be dead right now." Her voice grew in strength, gaining confidence as she pounded what she believed was right into his brain.

"And the next person to die? His or her blood will be on your hands, even if you never even knew them, even if you didn't kill them directly, because you had the power to stop the bomber because you were too scared to face your fears." She gave weak chuckle. "I'm not calling you a coward yet, because you still have the time to make a decision, but if you don't, then you will be the weakest person I know." Oliver stared at the ground, no longer wanting to change her mind. Felicity smiled and prompted softly, "So? What's your choice?"

Oliver sighed, convinced. Okay, I'll go. I'll tell her, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." Felicity jumped up excitedly. "Oh, I could hug you right now!" She stopped, blushing at her own words. "I mean, just as a happy hug, not like, romantic or anything, cause that would be weird…" Oliver laughed, happy to have his friend back to her normal, awkward adorkable self.


	11. Lightning and Arrows

**Hey! How's it going? I know, I know, I haven't been updating a lot, but hey, I have a life!**

**Anyway, I still need some help for the the third (and final) part of Iris turning into a meta. How does she find out about Oliver? Please PM me with your ideas!**

**sadface- Yeah, Halfblood also writes this kind of story (Go check them out, there are over fifty ways people find out!) but even though we may use the same prompt, our plots are different.**

**Does anybody have any ideas for a cool linebreak I could use?**

**This is an AE to episode 9. **

**DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN THE FLASH OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!**

**OOOOOooooooOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOoOoo**

Iris couldn't believe what she was seeing. One moment, Eddie and Iris were sitting in the car and the next, Flash is beating up her boyfriend. She knew that something was up, and all her 'interviews' weren't for nothing. She became accustomed to his energy, the way he moved and how he talked. But now, there was something in his voice and in his stance that suggested that he was a completely different person.

Iris jumped out of the car, unaware of her movements and only took note of her raging thoughts. Flash approached Eddie, who had picked himself up off the ground, kicking his gun away. He ran, grabbing Flash, but the red speedster just flung him away, using Eddie's weight against him. He rolled, groaning.

"Eddie!" Iris screamed. She stared at the unfolding scene. Flash continued to advance on the injured cop.

"Who the heck are you, huh?" he accused. "You think that you can just come along and have whatever you want? What gives you the right?" he thundered, vibrating his voice. Iris once loved the mystery behind it, but now it brought fear to her heart.

Eddie tried in vain to crawl away. "What the heck are you talking about?" he asked, his voice strained. Iris continued to follow them, her thoughts in turmoil.

"What are you doing? What has happened to you?" Iris asked incrediously. Flash replied harshly, "I'm fine!"

"You are not fine!" Iris retorted, clearly in distress. Flash turned his head slightly, addressing her with a glare. "How would you know? Because you write about me? You don't KNOW ME!" he screamed. He turned all the way, facing Iris. He used his speed and stopped a foot in front of Iris. His expression was indescribable, full of hate and anger, but she swore she saw a glimmer of fear and and an underlying look of confusion. Her thoughts were cut short, however, when he pushed her against a nearby brick wall, his hand against her throat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eddie struggle to get up, holding his side.

Iris attempted to push him off, but he only gripped her harder, and she started to choke. He looked her in the eye, voice undisguised, and whispered, "You have never known me." His eyes glowed red for a second before a sharp _thwang_ cut through the air.

Iris gasped, clutching her throat. She swallowed harshly, coughing. 'No, no no. The universe wouldn't be that cruel...' She barely recognized the eyes of her best friend, and even when red, they were there. She still didn't believe it though. In the back of her mind, she knew it was Barry, but her lovable stubbornness refused to accept the truth. Barry was not the Flash, and vice versa was true. He just looked a lot like Barry, that's all. Plus she was oxygen deprived, so her brain wasn't working quite right.

Meanwhile, Flash had turned and faced a green clad man, silver bow drawn taunt. An arrow, mere inches from Iris' face, was imbedded in the wall. The two vigilantes glared at each other, and not even an arrow could cut through the amount of hostility they were giving off. The green man turned to Iris, commanding, "Run." with a deep, gravelly voice. She did as she was told, taking a slight detour to reach Eddie. She hugged him gingerly, aware of his injuries, and glanced back at the circling men.

The man in green shot an arrow, one with rope attached, wrapping around Flash. Eddie muttered, "Is that… the _Arrow?_" Iris didn't ask how he knew that, but again turned her attention toward the battle.

"You need to _calm down_." Arrow commanded, sounding calm himself dispite the situation present. Flash smirked, retorting, "And you need to hold on." He pulled the rope while running, dragging the archer along the ground. Iris ran after them, determined to find out what was going on. It didn't take a genius to tell that something was up.

Flash stopped, letting Arrow skid past him, yanking the rope at the last second. Arrow finally let go, drawing his bow. Flash strode up, dodging the green arrow with ease. "You missed." he taunted. "No." Arrow replied. A second later, the now red arrow exploded, launching Flash into the air.

Eddie hurriedly said, "Come on Iris, let's go." He grabbed her arm, but she shook it off. "No, I need to see this."

Meanwhile, Flash raised his head, oblivious to the arguing couple. He looked around, searching for Arrow. Suddenly, a dart hit his shoulder, and Flash staggered, yelling in pain.

"2000 milligrams of horse tranquilizer. Should be hitting you any time now." Arrow said. Flash took a knee, gasping, and reached around to grab the dart. He pulled it out, standing up and letting it fall. He started to vibrate his whole body, and a sickly green mist came off of him.

Eddie gaped. "What the… he's burning it off." Well, that was one less tactic they could use.

Flash stopped and turned around, facing Arrow. Iris gazed at the scene before her while Flash circled Arrow at lightning fast speed. The rush of air drew in a nearby fire, creating a tornado of flames. Arrow calmly shot a grappling arrow to the top of a building and was lifted up. Flash noticed his actions and raced to the top of the building, shouting, "Where you going?" He cut the line and Arrow fell, but he shot another arrow just like the previous one to slow his descent.

Flash met him at the bottom, and Arrow finally noticed the spectators. He grimaced, glaring at the others but Barry was too much of a threat to deal with them. "Is that all you got?" Flash asked. Iris shook her head, all thoughts of the connection between Barry and Flash lost. The voice sounding was familiar but too distorted with rage for her to clearly match it up.

Flash charged Arrow, and the two were quickly caught in a precarious dance. Arrow was on the offensive, using his bow as a weapon as much as various punched, kicks, and strikes. Flash dodged them, avoiding the attacks until Arrow caught him unawares with his bow. He reeled back, startled, then ground his teeth in anger.

He started to attack Arrow, throwing punches at superspeed. He put a few nasty ones to the face as good measure. Arrow arched his back, lanced with pain. He finally manage to hit Barry, knocking him senseless for a few moments. He put Barry in a choke hold, but he fought and struggled.

"Let GO!" Flash screamed at the top of his lungs, a truly frightening sound. He threw Arrow back, knocking his hood back and mask to the side. As he fell, though, his fingertips caught the edge of Flash's mask. He pulled it off, and Iris gasped.

"Oh, Barry… _what?_" she whispered so softly she doubted that Eddie heard. Eddie was speechless. His gaze was focused on the other man. 'No way, Oliver Queen? What is wrong with this world?' she thought.

Lying on the ground, Oliver noticed the two looking at himself and Barry in shock. Returning his attention to Barry, he pulled out a small, thin device and clicked it. Two arrows sprung from his bike, but Fla- no, Barry turned and caught them.

"Fool me once."

Oliver leaned forward and threw a small, metal pointy arrow thing that pierced Barry's lower leg. He yelled, and pulled it out without hesitation. Both stood, gasping.

"I still believe in you, Barry." Oliver said weakly, his eyes flickering to Iris. She stood in horror, looking at Barry in dispair. She drew in a sharp breath when she saw his eyes glow red for a moment, and watched as he threw a punch.

Oliver caught it.

He directed a hit to Barry's shoulder, then put him in another chokehold. He struggled again, but he was weaker than before.

Screeching tires stole Eddie's attention. He could see Joe and an old guy in a white van barreling down the street. It suddenly swerved to the side, two doors opening to reveal five bright lights flashing various colors. All four relaxed, feeling the calming effects.

Barry ceased struggling, and Oliver let him go. He staggered, clutching his head and groaning. Oliver asked, "Barry? You okay?" Barry turned to face him, exhausted.

"Oh, this is going to be a special kind of hangover." he said. Both men smiled, but Oliver quickly dropped his grin. "You two, get out here." he called. Barry looked up sharply at his words, turning very nervous as he saw the two people emerging from the shadows cautiously. Behind him, he heard a car door slam and Joe walking up to them.

"I am in so much trouble." Barry deadpanned. Oliver suppressed a grin, facing Joe. "Thanks for the help." he said. Joe nodded, just relieved that the situation was over. Well, almost.

Iris stormed up to Barry, only getting a weak 'ow' in reply. "Bartholomew Henry Allen!" she yelled. "What was that?" she hissed, stomping her foot. Barry cringed, still leaning on Oliver for support. He was about to answer when his legs failed him and he sank to the ground. Iris immediately was concerned. "Barry?" Oliver strained to keep Barry on his feet and he said, "Oh, need food."

Eddie asked, "How could you think about food at a time like this?" Barry grimaced, a wave of nausea washing over him as he replied pointedly, "Well, unless you want to see me faint, I could really use an energy bar right now."

Dr. Wells wordlessly handed him a Cisco-fied bar, after rolling down a ramp from the mobile lab. Barry bit into it gratefully, downing it in seconds.

"To answer your question," Barry started, "Don't mess with angry metas." The two only frowned in confusion.

"People who were affected by the Particle Accelerator explosion. The most recent one we have encountered is a meta who makes people really angry." Joe cut in. "Bank robbery. Sound familiar?"

Eddie nodded. He had talked with a young mother, and she was clearly confused. All the people had said the same thing, that they saw red and the next thing they know, they are tearing each other to pieces.

"Yeah." Eddie said. Barry continued, " I was affected, tried to hold it in, but it backfired."

"But why me?" Eddie ventured. Barry was about to answer when Dr. Wells simply said, "You're trying to arrest him." Eddie laughed weakly, trying to break the ice. "Yeah, there's that." Pausing for a moment, Barry leaned against a wall, sighing. Then he froze, listening.

"Barry. Barry! BARRY!" a faint voice yelled. Quickly pulling on his mask, he asked into the comm, "Yeah?" Cisco replied, sounding annoyed. "Dude, we've been trying to contact you forever!"

"Sorry."

Caitlin took over. "Are you okay?" Barry ignored the others staring and replied sarcasticly, " Uh, well I was punched several times, almost blew up, and had a piece of metal sticking out of my leg, but other than that, I'm good."

Cisco suddenly said, "We made a bet on who would win. It was a tie." and immediately Felicity added, "It was not my idea."

"You what?" Barry asked, slightly miffed. Joe raised an eyebrow, clearly expected an answer. Barry explained, "They made a bet on who would win." Oliver frowned, already thinking of revenge plans, but his thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Wells.

"Remember, this is coming from the people who were calculating the average number of bugs you swallow in a day of running, Barry." He stared for a moment before deciding to let it go. He turned to Iris.

"I'm sorry, Iris. I know that it hurt, you, but I wanted to protect you from all… _this._ I'm sorry." he concluded. Iris closed her eyes. "It's… okay, I guess."

Oliver still had to take care of some things. "Understand that I do not let you go with this information lightly. My identity is a closely guarded secret." Barry smiled. "Please don't do what you did to me." Eddie asked curiously, "What did he do?"

Oliver answered nonchalantly, "I tried to choke him to death." Iris' eyes widened as Barry protested. "I saved your life!"


End file.
